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JENNY  LIND  ELM 


The 
Hatfield  Book 


By 

CHARLES  A.  WIGHT 


Minister  of  the  Congregational  Church 
in      Chicopee      Falls,      Massachusetts 


Copyright  IQoS 
by 

Charles  A.  Wight 
Chicopee  Falls,  Mass. 


The  F.  a.  BASSETTE  CO.,  Printers 
Springfield,  Mass. 


Note  of  Dedication 

The  author's  parents,  Joseph  E.  and  Sarah  R  Wight, 
about  two  years  after  their  marriage  and  while  he  was  an 
infant,  moved  from  Ashfield  to  Hatfield  and  settled  in  the 
north  part  of  the  town.  Here  their  large  family  of  children 
grew  up  to  manhood  and  womanhood  under  the  most 
advantageous  conditions.  The  distant  mountains  on  all 
sides,  the  great  river,  the  ponds,  the  brooks,  the  meadows, 
the  forests  containing  many  chestnut  trees,  afforded  a 
fascinating  natural  environment  for  a  boy.  Hunting,  fish- 
ing, picking  wild  berries,  gathering  nuts,  coasting  and 
skating,  were  the  common  pastimes  for  the  active  boys  of 
the  region.  Here  the  author  made  his  home  for  about  a 
quarter  of  a  century.  He  prepared  for  college  in  the  Academy 
located  in  the  town.  When  a  young  man  about  to  leave 
home  for  college  he  united  with  the  Hatfield  church,  where  he 
had  been  from  childhood  a  constant  attendant.  His  father 
after  a  short,  but  active  and  successful  life  died  and  was  bur- 
ied in  the  little  cemetery  in  the  north  part  of  the  town,  where 
his  ashes  repose  among  the  graves  of  many  of  his  neighbors 
and  associates.  His  mother  is  still  spared  to  enjoy  in  the  old 
home  the  fruits  of  early  toil  and  sacrifice.  In  the  past 
year  during  the  little  leisure  that  could  be  snatched  from  the 
busy  life  of  a  Christian  minister,  the  author  has  visited  the 
home  of  his  early  life  and  gathered  the  material  for  this 
book.  He  is  much  indebted  to  Mr.  D.  W.  Wells,  Mr. 
L.  H.  Kingsley,  Mr.  David  Billings,  Rev.  R.  W.  Woods, 
D.D.,  Rev.  John  M.  Greene,  D.D.,  and  Mr.  C.  K.  Morton, 
for  their  help  in  gathering  material  for  his  book.  Most  of 
the  pictures  were  taken  with  the  aid  of  his  friend,  Mr.  F. 
P.  Cobb,  of  Chicopee  Falls.      The  book  has  been  written 


at  odd  moments  the  past  summer  as  a  labor  of  love.  No 
attempt  has  been  made  to  write  a  complete  history  of 
Hatfield,  but  a  faithful  effort  has  been  made  to  set  forth  in 
an  appreciative  spirit  and  convenient  form  some  of  the  most 
interesting  and  important  things  in  the  history  of  one  of 
the  oldest  and   most  attractive  villages  in  New  England. 

Hatfield  does  not  stand  still.  Never  was  it  so  prosperous 
as  to-day.  Never  was  it  so  progressive  as  in  these  modern 
times.  In  this  respect  it  affords  a  marked  contrast  to  many 
of  the  old  towns  of  New  England.  Fully  appreciating  what 
he  himself  owes  to  the  place,  the  author  gratefully  dedi- 
cates this  book  to  the  first  settlers  of  Hatfield,  whose 
courageous  deeds  are  unsurpassed  in  the  annals  of  pioneer 
life. 

C.  A.  W. 
Chicopee  Falls,  Mass. 

Summer  of  1908. 


Contents 


Seeing  Hatfield  by  Trolley  .... 

Historical  Sketch  of  Hatfield  .... 

Settlement.  Separation  from  Had  ley.  Richard  Fellows 
and  Others.  Hatfield  Lands.  Industrial  Life.  Population 
in  1850.  The  Coming  of  the  Foreigner.  Leading  Men 
of  Hatfield.  War  Time.  Gifts  of  Wealthy  Residents. 
Location  of  Smith  College  in  Northampton.  Religious 
Unity  of  Town. 

Sophia  Smith,  Founder  of  Smith  College 
Smith  Academy  ..... 

Oliver  Smith,  Founder  of  the  Smith  Charities 
The  Hatfield  Church    .... 
Indian  Attacks  on  Hatfield 


PAGE 

I 


II 


25 
33 
37 
43 
51 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Jenny  Lind  Elm 


Corner  Cupboard,  Hubbard  Inn    . 

The  Lowell  Elms  and  Mansion 

"Jenny  Lind"  Elm  and  Residences  of  D.  W.  Wells 

Esq.,  and  Sophia  Smith 
Residence  of  Mrs.  S.  R.  Wight 
Old  Doorway,  Roswell  Billings  Residence 
Residence  of  Roswell  Billings 
Graves  of  Rev.    William   Williams,    Rev.    Timothy 

Woodbridge  and  Rev.  Joseph  Lyman 
Residence  of  Reuben  F.  Wells 
Hatfield  Street     ...... 

The  Catholic  Church   ..... 


Frontispiece 

FACING    PAGE 
2 


7 
8 

II 

12 

13 
16 

18 
19 


FACING  PAGE 


Doorway  of  the  Morton  House 

Sophia  Smith's  Birthplace 

Rev.  John  M.  Greene,  D.D. 

Sophia  Smith  at  72       . 

Colonial  Porch  of  Miss  Smith's  New  Residence 

Oil  Painting  of  Sophia  Smith 

Sophia  Smith's  Monument 

Smith  Academy  ..... 

Oliver  Smith's  Account  Book  and  Office  Furniture 

Memorial  Hall  and  the  Church 

The  Graves  Memorial  Stone 

The  Hatfield  Church 

Rev.  Robert  M.  Woods,  D.D. 

Mrs.  R.  M.  Woods 

Memorial  Tablet 

A  Hatfield  Tobacco  Field 

The  Jenny  Lind  Elm 


20 
22 
23 

25 

26 
28 
32 
3+ 
Zl 
38 
40 

42 

45 
48 

51 
53 
55 


Seeing  Hatfield  by  Trolley 

SOON  after  it  leaves  Northampton  the  Deerfield  division 
of   the    Connecticut    Valley    Street    Railv^^ay    reaches 

Laurel  Park  and  turning  east  crosses  the  tracks  of  the 
N.Y.,N.H.  &H.  and  B.  &  M.  railroads.  Here  it  enters  a  rich 
tobacco  and  onion  growling  section  where  once  the  aborigines 
raised  their  crops  of  maize.  The  natives  sold  the  land  to  the 
whites  for  a  compensation  which  was  regarded  by  both  parties 
as  reasonable,  but  which  seems  to  us  today  ridiculously 
small.  Every  foot  of  ground  that  the  trolley  passes  in  its 
course  through  Hatfield  is  rich  in  historic  interest.  In  this 
region  the  Indians  had  their  favorite  camping,  fishing  and 
hunting  grounds.  Here  was  the  scene  of  the  long  and 
terrible  conflict  between  the  natives  and  the  settlers  for 
final  possession  of  the  soil.  Not  far  from  the  point  where  the 
trolley  line  crosses  the  railroad  tracks,  perhaps  within  the 
Hmits  of  Northampton,  the  Indian  chief  Umpanchala 
and  his  tribe  had  an  important  fort,  the  last  fortified  dwelling 
place  held  by  the  Indians  in  the  valley.  It  was  abandoned 
the  night  of  August  24,  1675. 

The  first  houses  reached  by  the  trolley  stand  on  the  site 
of  a  small  negro  settlement  which  vanished  some  time  ago, 
but  which  was  a  familiar  sight  to  the  author  of  this  book  in 
his  boyhood.  Some  of  the  negroes  who  had  their  cabins  and 
cabbage  patches  here  were  descendants  of  slaves  once  owned 
in  Hatfield.  To  the  right  lying  on  the  river  bank  is  the 
Capawonk  or  Little  Ponsett  meadow.  As  the  trolley  enters 
the  thickly  settled  part  of  the  place  it  passes  a  building 
now  used  as  a  tobacco  warehouse  that  has  a  fine  old  door- 
way similar  to  that  of  the  famous  Parson  Williams  house  of 


Deerfield.  The  building  stands  a  little  back  from  the  high- 
way on  the  left.  It  was  used  by  Eben  White  as  a  tavern  in 
the  days  of  the  stage  coach.  A  short  distance  further  on  the 
two  large  Lowell  elms  may  be  seen  standing  directly  in 
front  of  the  Lowell  mansion.  The  larger  of  the  two  trees 
measures   twenty  feet  in   circumference. 

On  the  corner  of  Elm  and  Prospect  streets,  where  the 
descent  of  the  hill  begins,  is  the  residence  of  Mr.  Roswell 
Hubbard.  Here  in  Revolutionary  war  time  Elisha  Hubbard, 
and  after  his  death  his  widow  Lucy  Hubbard,  kept  a  tavern. 
It  was  in  this  house  that  Washington's  staff  officer  Epa- 
phroditus  Champion  had  his  headquarters  for  several 
years.  Here,  too,  were  quartered  for  a  time  some  of  Count 
Rochambeau's  officers.  The  panes  of  the  old  windows 
were  marked  with  mottoes  and  epigrammatic  sentences 
written  with  a  diamond  by  the  Frenchmen.  It  is  also  said 
that  some  of  Burgoyne's  officers  and  soldiers  were  quartered 
in  the  house  when  they  were  being  marched  to  Boston  after 
the  surrender  at  Saratoga.  Lucy  Hubbard  was  a  woman  of 
such  remarkable  earning  powers  that  in  1772  the  town 
levied  a  tax  of  fifteen  pounds  upon  her  for  her  "faculty." 

The  Hill  burial  ground,  which  may  be  seen  from  this 
point,  was  used  by  the  town  as  the  principal  burial  place  until 
1849.  It  is  probable  that  there  was  an  earlier  burial  place, 
but  the  site  is  unknown.  The  oldest  inscription  in  the 
cemetery  reads  as  follows:  "Here  Lies  the  Body  of  William 
Williams,  Born  April  3D  &  Died  May  3,  168 1."  The 
headstone  at  the  grave  of  Captain  John  Allis  bears  the  date 
1691.  Here  is  the  grave  of  "Canada"  Waite.  The  old 
headstone  which  was  broken  has  been  replaced  by  a  new  one, 
an  exact  copy  of  the  original.  The  inscription  reads, 
"Canada  Waite  Smith,  wife  of  Mr.  Joseph  Smith,  who  died 
May  5,  1749  in  ye  72  year  of  her  age."    "Canada"  Waite 


was  born  in  Canada  the  winter  of  the  famous  captivity 
described  elsewhere  in  this  book.  She  was  the  grandmother 
of  Oliver  Smith  and  the  great  grandmother  of  Sophia  Smith. 
Colonel  Israel  Williams,  who  at  one  time  had  command  of  all 
the  western  troops  against  the  French  and  Indians,  is  buried 
in  this  cemetery.  Here  are  the  graves  of  several  soldiers  of 
the  Revolutionary  War.  In  this  cemetery  were  buried  the 
three  most  distinguished  ministers  the  town  had  in  the  early 
part  of  its  history,  Rev.  William  Williams,  Rev.  Timothy 
Woodbridge,  and  Rev.  Joseph  Lyman.  Their  graves  and 
that  of  Colonel  Israel  Williams  may  be  distinguished  by  the 
horizontal  headstones  supported  by  pillars.  One  is  well 
repaid  for  visiting  this  spot,  for  these  were  great  men  and 
their  graves  should  not  be  overlooked. 

At  the  foot  of  the  hill  the  trolley  crosses  "Capawonk" 
brook,  Mill  River,  often  referred  to  as  a  landmark  in  the 
Indian  deeds  and  old  land  grants,  and  a  short  distance 
further  on,  making  a  sharp  turn,  enters  Main  street.  On 
the  left  there  stands  at  the  corner  of  the  streets  an  interest- 
ing old  house  with  its  gambrel  roof.  The  house  is  over  a 
hundred  years  old  and  is  owned  by  Mr.  Reuben  F.  Wells,  who, 
after  graduating  from  Smith  Academy  and  Amherst  College 
established  himself  in  his  native  town  and  is  prominent  in 
its  business,  social,  and  religious  life. 

On  the  right,  at  the  extreme  south  end  of  the  street  is 
the  Mrs.  Chloe  Morton  house  with  its  beautiful  old  doorway. 
The  house  was  built  about  1750  and  belongs  to  the  oldest 
type  of  houses  now  standing  in  the  town.  There  is  a  steep 
pitch  to  the  roof  on  one  side  and  a  long  slope  on  the  other. 
In  the  rear  of  the  house  is  a  long  shed.  Several  houses  of 
this  type  are  still  standing  in  the  town.  The  Morton  house 
belonged  at  one  time  to  Lemuel  Dickinson,  a  Revolu- 
tionary  soldier.      About    1800    it   was    purchased    by   Mr. 


Josiah  Morton,  grandfather  of  the  present  owner,  Mr.  Albert 
W.  Morton.  This  was  the  home  of  Miss  Eunice  Morton, 
who  until  her  death  a  short  time  ago  was  one  of  the  most 
beloved  and  useful  women  in  church  and  society  that  Hat- 
field possessed.  She  was  for  many  years  a  successful  teacher 
in  the  public  schools  of  Hatfield  and  Springfield. 

The  first  house  erected  in  Hatfield  was  built  by  Richard 
Fellows  in  1661  and  stood  just  below  the  intersection  of  the 
"Northampton"  road  with  Main  street.  South  from  Main 
street  is  Indian  Hollow  from  which  point  the  "twenty-five 
resolute  young  men"  from  Hadley  fought  their  way  up  to  the 
settlement  and  assisted  the  Hatfield  men  in  putting  the  Indi- 
ans to  flight  in  their  assault  on  the  town,  May  30,  1676.  To 
the  right  of  Indian  Hollow  is  the  Great  Ponsett  meadow. 

Proceeding  a  short  distance  north  on  Main  street  the 
trolley  passes  the  "Jenny  Lind"  elm,  readily  recognized  by 
the  cement  which  has  been  placed  in  decayed  parts  of  the 
tree.  There  is  a  tradition  that  when  Jenny  Lind  and  her 
husband  were  in  Northampton  on  their  honeymoon  they 
visited  Hatfield,  and  the  famous  singer,  standing  under  this 
tree,  sang  one  of  her  ballads  to  the  people  of  the  village. 

The  tree  was  set  out  by  Josiah  Dwight  about  1768. 
Just  north  of  the  "Jenny  Lind"  elm  is  the  memorial  stone 
which  marks  the  dwelling  place  of  Thomas  Graves,  the  first 
of  his  name,  so  the  inscription  reads,  to  settle  in  the  valley. 
He  died  in  1662.  His  sons  Isaac  and  John  were  killed  by 
the  Indians  in  the  attack  of  September  19,  1677.  Thaddeus 
Graves,  a  prominent  citizen  of  Hatfield,  is  a  descendant  of 
Thomas   Graves. 

The  trolley  is  now  passing  over  historic  ground.  The 
stockade  built  by  the  first  settlers  as  a  defence  against 
attacks  by  the    Indians  was  in    this  part  of  the  town.     It 


stood  on  each  side  of  the  road  about  two  hundred  feet  back 
and  extended  from  the  south  end  of  Main  street  to  a  point 
a  little  south  of  the  Academy.  On  the  right  side  of  the  road 
almost  opposite  the  Graves  memorial  stone  is  the  house 
in  which  Sophia  Smith,  the  founder  of  Smith  College,  was 
born  and  in  which  she  lived  until  near  the  close  of  her  life. 
The  house  is  marked  by  a  tablet.  It  was  on  the  site  of  this 
house  that  the  first  male  child  was  born  in  Hatfield.  The 
next  house  north  with  its  mansard  roof  and  beautiful 
colonial  porch  was  built  by  Miss  Smith  a  short  time  before 
her  death.  She  lived  in  the  house  the  last  years  of  her  life 
and  died  here,  June  12,  1870.  It  has  been  occupied  in  recent 
years  by  the  Rev.  Robert  M.  Woods  and  family. 

The  next  house  north  is  the  residence  of  Mr.  Daniel 
W.  Wells,  president  of  Smith  Charities  and  one  of  the  lead- 
ing men  of  Hatfield.  The  house  was  once  the  Dr.  White 
tavern.  Here  were  held  the  lotteries  by  which  money  was 
raised  for  building  bridges  across  the  river.  The  first  post 
office  in  the  town  was  located  in  this  house.  In  front  of 
the  house  is  the  site  of  the  old  brick  schoolhouse,  built 
about  1800  and  pulled  down  in  the  summer  of  1846.  North 
of  where  the  schoolhouse  stood  is  the  site  of  the  first  meet- 
ing-house built  in  the  town.  It  was  erected  in  1668  and  like 
the  schoolhouse  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  road.  To  the 
left  is  the  residence  of  Mr.  Roswell  Billings  with  its  fine  old 
doorway.  In  the  north  front  room  is  a  beautiful  corner  cup- 
board. Great  cased  beams  are  a  striking  feature  of  the  lower 
rooms  of  the  house.  It  was  built  some  time  before  the  French 
and  Indian  War.  The  next  building  north  is  the  new 
Memorial  Hall,  the  gift  of  the  late  Samuel  H.  Dickinson. 
In  the  lower  story  is  a  fine  collection  of  relics  of  the  early 
days  of  the  town.  The  town  clerk  has  his  office  in  this 
building.     The  second  story  is  used  for  the  town  library. 


In  the  hall  are  tablets  on  which  are  inscribed  the  names  of 
the  soldiers  of  the  Revolutionary  and  Civil  v^ars.  In  the 
north  room  of  the  lov^er  story  is  a  tablet  erected  by  the 
people  of  the  town  in  commemoration  of  the  heroes,  Ben- 
jamin Waite  and  Stephen  Jennings,  who  made  the  long  and 
dangerous  journey  to  Canada  and  brought  back  the  cap- 
tives of  Sept.  19,  1677. 

The  church  which  stands  just  north  of  Memorial  Hall 
was  built  in  1849,  and  is  the  only  Protestant  house  of  worship 
in  the  town.  It  is  the  fourth  meeting-house  built  since  the 
incorporation  of  the  town.  The  third  meeting-house  was 
moved  across  the  street  and  is  now  used  as  a  barn  by  its 
owner,  Mr.  F.  H.  Bardwell.  It  may  be  recognized  by  its 
coat  of  red  paint.  In  this  building  are  some  red  oak  timbers 
that  belong  to  the  second  meeting-house,  which  was  erected 
in  1699.  Back  of  the  church  is  the  principal  cemetery  of 
the  town.  The  graves  of  Oliver  Smith  and  Sophia  Smith 
are  in  this  cemetery.  Here  is  the  grave  of  Sergeant  Joseph 
P.  Coburn,  who  did  gallant  service  in  two  wars,  having 
been  in  four  engagements  of  the  Mexican  war  and  sixteen 
battles  of  the  Civil  war.  He  was  promoted  during  the  Civil 
war  to  the  position  of  color  sergeant. 

In  the  writer's  boyhood  an  elm  tree,  that  measured 
about  forty  feet  in  circumference  and  which  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes  pronounced  the  largest  tree  in  Massachusetts, 
stood  in  front  of  the  church.  It  was  an  old  tree  when  the 
first  settlers  saw  it.  Along  the  highway  at  this  point  was 
the  parade  ground  of  the  local  militia. 

On  the  site  of  the  Town  Hall,  the  building  north  of  the 
church,  stood  the  handsome  residence  of  Colonel  Israel 
Williams.  It  was  torn  down  in  1857  to  make  way  for  the 
present  building.  It  had  a  gambrel  roof  and  in  the  interior 
were     immense     fireplaces,    beautiful     corner     cupboards, 


^■'*.-  ■  3.-*- .. 


JENNY  LIND  ELM  AND  RESIDENCES  OF  D.  W.  WELLS,  ESQ. 
AND  SOPHIA  SMITH 


elaborate  hand  carved  mantels,  high  wainscoting  and  crim- 
son velvet  vs^all  paper.  Colonel  Williams  was  a  staunch 
Tory  and  was  the  richest  man  in  the  town. 

A  little  further  north  on  the  right-hand  side  of  the  road 
is  the  fine  old  house  with  its  Corinthian  pillars,  the  residence 
for  many  years  of  Samuel  H.  Dickinson  and  his  sister 
Abby  Dickinson.  The  house  was  built  about  1825.  Almost 
opposite  is  Smith  Academy,  founded  by  Sophia  Smith  in 
1870.  The  Indians  in  the  famous  attack  of  September  19, 
1677,  came  down  the  lane  that  enters  Main  street  north  of 
the  Academy.  It  was  in  this  section  just  outside  of  the 
stockade  that  the  settlers  lived  who  were  taken  captive  or 
killed.  Thirteen  homes  were  invaded  and  from  one  to 
four  persons  in  each  killed  or  taken  captive. 

Some  distance  above  the  Academy  stand  three  houses 
each  having  a  tower  as  an  architectural  feature.  The  first 
one  on  the  left  is  the  residence  of  Dr.  C.  A.  Byrne.  The  next 
on  the  same  side  is  the  residence  of  Major  C.  S.  Shattuck. 
The  one  on  the  right  hand  was  the  home  of  the  late  William 
H.  Dickinson,  for  many  years  a  very  prominent  citizen 
of  Hatfield,  and  one  of  the  first  to  undertake  the  raising  of 
tobacco  for  the  market.    His  widow  still  occupies  the  house. 

A  few  feet  south  of  the  Dickinson  residence  is  the  site 
of  the  house  in  which  Oliver  Smith,  the  founder  of  the  Smith 
Charities,  was  born.  The  house  was  moved  to  North  street 
some  years  ago  and  is  the  second  one  standing  on  the  street. 

The  Hatfield  Inn  at  the  north  end  of  Main  Street 
was  opened  as  a  tavern  about  1824.  It  was  on  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  street,  below  the  lane  entering  from  the 
west  that  the  Indian  scout,  Benjamin  Waite,  had  his  home. 

At  the  extreme  'end  of  Main  street  is  an  elevation 
known  as  King's  Hill,  where  some  of  Sophia  Smith's 
advisers  wanted  her  to  locate  her  college. 


The  region  that  the  trolley  enters  at  this  point  in  its 
course  northward  is  known  as  Little  Meadow.  At  Pine 
Bridge  the  trolley  crosses  "Wunckcompss"  brook,  traverses 
North  meadow,  called  by  the  Indians  "  Mincommuck," 
and  enters  North  Hatfield,  recently  named  Bradstreet  by  the 
United  States  Post  Office  authorities.  Here  is  a  community 
of  prosperous  farmers,  some  of  whom  have  as  beautiful 
country  homes  as  can  be  found  in  the  valley. 

In  the  cemetery  is  the  grave  of  a  famous  Revolutionary 
soldier,  Joseph  Guild,  the  last  survivor  of  the  Revolution- 
ary war  residing  in  Hatfield.  He  served  through  the  seven 
years  of  the  war  and  was  present  at  the  surrender  of  General 
Burgoyne's  army  at  Saratoga;  at  the  battle  of  Monmouth; 
and  at  the  surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown. 
Once  when  he  was  on  duty  as  sentinel  General  Washington 
and  General  Hamilton  made  a  movement  to  pass  him. 
He  stopped  them  and  demanded  the  countersign.  They 
did  not  comply  with  the  demand  and  General  Hamilton 
persisted  in  the  attempt  to  pass,  whereupon  Guild  cocked 
his  gun  and  told  him  that  "  he  was  a  dead  man  if  he  passed." 
General  Washington  then  directed  that  the  countersign 
be  given,  and  they  passed  on.  The  incident  was  related 
to  the  late  Samuel  D.  Partridge  by  Mr.  Guild. 

The  large  white  house  with  the  cupola,  which  stands 
just  north  of  the  Post  Office  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
street,  is  the  residence  of  Mr.  Clarence  E.  Belden,  a  success- 
ful business  man  and  native  of  the  place.  The  fine  country 
home  a  short  distance  further  north  on  the  same  side  of  the 
road  is  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Sarah  R.  Wight,  widow  of 
J.  E.  Wight,  a  man  of  large  business  interests,  who  took 
great  pride  in  making  for  himself  one  of  the  most  attractive 
country  homes  in  the  valley.  Since  his  death  the  greenhouses 
and  hundreds  of  ornamental  trees   and    shrubs  that  once 


8 


beautified  the  place  have  been  removed.  Mr.  L,  H.  Wight 
has  charge  of  the  place.  The  next  house  north  v^^ith  the 
fine  porch  and  extensive  tobacco  barns  is  owrned  by  Mr.  Gil- 
bert E.  Morton,  a  large  growler  and  packer  of  tobacco. 

Bradstreet    was  named  after  Governor  Bradstreet  who 
was  the  proprietor  of  a  grant  of  land  in  this  region. 

About  half  a  mile  further  north  the  Whately  line  is 
reached. 


OLD  DOORWAY  ROSW  ELL  BILLINGS  RESIDENCE 


Historical  Sketch  of  Hatfield 

A  STRANGER  passing  along  the  main  street  of  Hat- 
field would  not  fail  to  observe  the  great  natural 
beauty  of  place,  the  grand  old  elms,  the  pretty  mod- 
ern homes,  and  the  many  signs  of  prosperity  to  be  seen  on 
every  hand.  If  he  v^^ere  to  mingle  w^ith  the  inhabitants  in  some 
of  their  social  gatherings  he  vi^ould  be  impressed  w^ith  their 
culture  and  refinement.  Indeed  there  is  little  in  the  place  to 
remind  one  of  its  ancient  origin  and  its  connection  vi^ith  the 
earliest  history  of  our  country.  A  small  number  of  very  old 
houses,  a  few  examples  of  architecture  of  the  Colonial  period 
and  the  old  headstones  in  the  Hill  cemetery  are  about  all  that 
is  left  to  bear  witness  to  the  distant  past.  The  trolley  line 
that  passes  through  the  place,  the  new  Memorial  Hall,  the 
Academy,  the  comparatively  modern  house  of  worship, 
and  the  pretty  modern  homes  all  speak  of  the  present  day. 
Many  of  the  New  England  towns  have  suffered  greatly  from 
the  loss  of  gifted  and  enterprising  sons  and  daughters  who 
have  gone  to  the  city  or  to  the  West.  Hatfield  is  an  ex- 
ception. Many  of  her  best  sons  and  daughters  have  re- 
mained in  the  place  of  their  birth  and  identified  themselves 
with  the  life  of  the  town.  Such  men  as  Thaddeus  Graves, 
Charles  K.  Morton,  Daniel  W.  Wells,  the  late  Henry  S. 
Hubbard,  George  Billings,  Jonathan  E.  Porter,  Alfred  H. 
Graves,  the  brothers  Roswell  and  David  Billings,  F.  H. 
Bardwell,  and  in  the  north  part  of  the  town  Oscar  Belden 
and  sons,  Charles  W.  Marsh,  William  Belden,  Frank  Jones, 
Gilbert  E.  Morton,  Clarence  E.  Belden,  Reuben  Belden,  L. 
H.  Wight,  Archie  P.  Graves,  Edwin  Field,  and  others  equally 

II 


worthy  of  mention  have  remained  in  the  town  and  devoted 
themselves  to  the  maintenance  of  its  business  and  social  life. 
The  educational  and  religious  interests  have  been  fostered 
with  wisdom  and  care.  The  result  may  be  seen  in  the  pro- 
ductive farms,  the  beautiful  homes,  the  well  kept  lawns,  the 
culture  and  refinement  of  the  inhabitants,  and  the  superior 
moral  and  religious  state  of  the  community.  In  many  in- 
stances the  young  men  of  the  town  have  found  their  wives 
among  the  charming  daughters  of  the  place  and  the  latter 
have  kept  up  their  mothers'  reputation  for  good  house- 
wifery and  fine  womanly  qualities.  It  is  doubtful  if  there 
is  another  town  of  its  size  in  New  England  that  numbers 
so  many  fine  appearing  and  cultivated  young  women  as 
Hatfield.  Such  persons  as  Rev.  Robert  M.  Woods,  D.D., 
Isaac  B.  Lowell,  Major  C.  S.  Shattuck,  Hugh  McLeod, 
the  brothers  Jacob  and  Frederick  Carl,  have  settled  in  the 
town  and  contributed  greatly  by  their  personal  worth  and 
enterprise  to  the  prosperity  and  attractiveness  of  the  place. 

Hatfield,  however,  as  has  already  been  shown,  has  a 
distant  and  notable  past  and  this  book  would  fail  of  its 
purpose  did  it  not  disclose  that  past  and  establish  the  con- 
nection between  the  Hatfield  of  our  time  and  the  plantation 
on  the  west  side  of  the  river  in  the  days  when  what  is  now 
Hatfield  was  a  part  of  the  new  settlement  of  Norwottuck 
or  Hadley. 

In  the  spring  of  1614,  Adrian  Block,  a  Dutch  ad- 
venturer, who  had  spent  the  preceding  winter  on  Man- 
hattan, embarked  with  his  crew  in  his  American-built  ship 
Restless  and  sailed  eastward  on  the  waters  of  Long  Island 
Sound.  Skirting  the  northern  shore,  Block  soon  came  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut  River  and  sailed  up  the  river 
till  he  reached  the  Enfield  Rapids.  This  Dutch  navigator 
seems  to  have  been  the  first  European  to  explore  the  lower 


12 


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Connecticut.  Bacon  in  his  book,  The  Connecticut  River, 
gives  Block  the  credit  of  having  discovered  the  river.  In 
1633  the  Dutch  purchased  a  tract  of  land  of  the  Pequots 
where  the  city  of  Hartford  is  now  situated  and  erected  a 
rude  fort.  It  was  the  purpose  of  the  Dutch  to  exclude  the 
English  from  the  region,  but  Providence  had  decreed  other- 
wise. The  English  settlers  at  Plymouth  and  the  Bay  very 
early  learned  of  the  fertility  and  attractiveness  of  the  Con- 
necticut Valley  and  in  September,  1633,  a  small  company 
of  men  made  a  journey  through  the  wilderness  to  the  Con- 
necticut River.  In  October  of  the  same  year  another 
company  of  Englishmen  ascended  the  river  and  built  a 
trading  house  at  a  point  some  distance  above  the  Dutch 
fort.  In  the  following  year  English  settlements  were  es- 
tablished at  Wethersfield,  Hartford  and  Windsor.  William 
Pynchon  and  his  small  company  from  Roxbury  established 
themselves  at  Springfield  in  1636.  Northampton  was  settled 
in  1654.  The  settlement  of  Hadley  was  begun  in  1659  and 
was  the  result  of  differences  in  the  churches  at  Hartford 
and  Wethersfield. 

April  18,  1659,  sixty  persons  made  an  "Engagement" 
to  remove  to  the  Norwottuck  valley  in  Massachusetts  and 
establish  a  new  plantation.  It  is  probable  that  the  broad 
streets  which  are  a  striking  feature  of  Hadley  were  laid  out 
in  1659.  The  first  settlers  of  Hadley  were  from  Hartford, 
Windsor,  and  Wethersfield. 

The  plantation  was  situated  on  both  sides  of  the  Con- 
necticut river.  The  settlement  of  the  new  town  appears 
to  have  been  completed  in  1661.  It  was  in  that  year  that 
the  General  Court  ordered  that  the  new  settlement  should 
be  called  Hadley. 

It  was  inevitable  that  the  settlers  on  the  west  side  of  the 
river  should  act  more  or  less  independently  of  those  on  the 


13 


east  side,  and  that  at  no  distant  day  a  separate  town  should 
be  established  on  the  west  side.  The  river  at  this  point  was 
broad  and  deep.  Communication  between  the  two  places 
was  difficult  at  all  times  and  sometimes  well  nigh  impossible. 
Naturally  a  community  spirit  was  gradually  developed 
among  the  settlers  on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  They  were 
permitted  to  manage  some  of  their  affairs  independently  of 
the  east  side.  In  the  all  important  matter  of  attendance  on 
divine  ordinances  a  serious  difficulty  arose.  The  place  of 
worship  was  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  and  at  times  the 
passage  of  the  river  was  extremely  difficult  and  dangerous. 
The  great  labor  attending  the  crossing  of  the  river,  together 
with  the  terror  and  screams  of  the  women  and  children, 
interfered  very  seriously  with  an  orderly  observance  of  the 
Sabbath  and  a  profitable  participation  in  the  services  of 
worship.  Persons  occasionally  fell  through  the  ice  into  the 
river  and  barely  escaped  drowning.  The  petition  to  the 
General  Court  in  1667  stated  that  not  more  than  one-half 
of  the  ninety  persons  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  "capable 
of  receiving  good  by  ordinances"  could  ordinarily  attend 
services  on  the  Lord's  Day.  It  was  also  urged  in  the  petition 
that  the  inhabitants  on  the  west  side  who  remained  at  home 
were  left  "a  prey  to  the  heathen,"  who  were  quick  to  see 
their  opportunity.  A  petition  for  relief  from  their  hard 
conditions  was  made  to  the  General  Court  by  the  settlers 
on  the  west  side  in  May,  1667.  In  May,  1669,  the  General 
Court  was  informed  that  steps  had  been  taken  by  the  in- 
habitants of  the  west  side  towards  "setting  up  a  meeting 
house"  and  that  a  man  had  already  been  "pitched  upon" 
for  a  minister,  who  had  been  recommended  to  them  by 
"sundry  reverend  and  godly  persons."  Articles  of  agree- 
ment between  the  inhabitants  of  the  east  side  of  the  river  and 
those  living  on  the  west  side  were  made  December  22,  1669 


14 


and  sent  to  Boston.  The  town  of  Hatfield  was  incorporated 
May  31,  1670.  It  was  named  from  one  of  the  three  Hat- 
fields  in  England. 

It  was  approximately  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago 
that  Richard  Fellows,  Thomas  Meekins,  Wm.  Allis, 
Nathaniel  Dickinson,  Jr.,  Thomas  Graves  and  sons  Isaac 
and  John,  Samuel  Belding,  Stephen  Taylor,  John  White, 
Jr.,  Daniel  Warner,  Richard  Billings,  Obadiah  Dickinson, 
Zachariah  Field,  Daniel  White,  John  Cowles,  John  Wells, 
Samuel  Dickinson  and  John  Coleman  built  their  homes  on 
the  west  side  of  the  river  in  the  new  plantation  of  Nor- 
wottuck  and  laid  the  foundations  of  the  present  town  of 
Hatfield. 

The  Hatfield  lands  were  purchased  directly  or  in- 
directly of  the  Indian  chiefs  Umpanchala  and  Quonquont. 
The  land  upon  which  the  main  part  of  Hatfield  is  situated 
was  purchased  July  10,  1660  from  Umpanchala  for  300 
fathoms  of  wampum  and  sundry  gifts.  The  land  in  the 
south  part  of  the  town  known  as  the  Capawonk  meadow 
was  sold  by  Umpanchala  to  Northampton  in  1657  for 
fifty  shillings,  and  purchased  of  Northampton  by  Hadley 
January  22,  1663,  for  30  pounds.  The  land  in  the  north 
part  of  the  town  was  purchased  of  Quonquont's  widow 
October  19,  1672.  These  three  purchases  cover  all  of  the 
Hatfield  lands.  By  the  terms  of  the  deeds  given  for  the 
land  the  descendants  of  Umpanchala  and  Quonquont  still 
have  a  right  to  hunt  and  fish  along  the  streams  and  erect 
their  wigwams  on  the  common. 

The  period  of  the  settlement  of  the  town  was  followed 
by  that  of  the  French  and  Indian  War.  After  that  came  the 
Revolutionary  War.  More  than  125  Hatfield  men  served  in 
the  War  of  Independence.  The  following  action  was  taken 
at  a  town  meeting  held  June  24,  1776:    "Voted — By  the 

15 


town  to  instruct  and  direct  their  Representative  at  the 
present  General  Assembly  to  use  his  endeavors  that  the 
Delegates  of  this  Colony  at  the  Congress  be  advised,  that  in 
case  the  Congress  should  think  it  necessary  for  the  safety  of 
the  American  United  Colonies  to  declare  them  independent 
of  Great  Britain,  the  inhabitants  of  the  tov^n  of  Hatfield 
with  their  lives  and  fortunes  wiW  solemnly  engage  to  support 
them  in  the  measure." 

It  was  also  voted  that  the  sum  of  twenty-seven  shillings 
be  expended  for  a  drum  for  the  use  of  the  town. 

Just  before  1800  much  attention  was  given  to  fattening 
cattle  for  the  market.  Oliver  Smith  was  one  of  those  who 
engaged  in  this  business.  A  part  of  the  supply  of  beef  for  the 
troops  in  the  Revolutionary  War  was  purchased  in  Hatfield. 
From  about  1826  to  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War  broom 
corn  was  a  leading  product  of  the  Hatfield  farms.  The 
value  of  the  brooms  manufactured  in  the  town  in  the  year 
1837  was  $28,600.  In  1856  James  Morton  and  William 
H.  Dickinson  began  the  cultivation  of  tobacco  for  the 
market.  It  had  long  been  raised  in  small  quantities  for 
private  use.  In  a  recent  year  fourteen  hundred  acres  of 
tobacco  and  eleven  hundred  acres  of  onions  were  raised 
in  the  town.  A  few  years  ago  Alfred  H.  Graves  and  the 
late  Wm.  C.  Dickinson  gave  special  attention  for  a  time  to 
the  breeding  of  fine  driving  horses. 

In  1800  the  population  of  Hatfield  was  about  800, 
with  only  two  persons  of  foreign  birth.  Up  to  1850  the 
population  was  composed  almost  entirely  of  pure  American 
stock,  the  descendants  of  the  English  Puritans.  Since  that 
time  people  from  the  Old  World  have  been  coming  in 
increasing  numbers  until,  at  the  present  time,  about  two- 
thirds  of  the  population  is  composed  of  people  who  are 
either  foreign  born  or  the  children  of  foreign  born  parents. 

16 


w      3: 


::::    U 


The  first  foreigner  to  settle  in  Hatfield  was  Henry  Wilkie,  a 
Hessian  soldier  belonging  to  Burgoyne's  army,  who  chose  to 
make  his  home  in  the  town  rather  than  return  to  his  native 
land.  The  foreign  population  has  added  very  materially  to  the 
industrial  and  business  life  of  the  town.     Without  the  help 
of  this  new  increment  of  population  it  would  be  impossible 
to  cultivate  the  extensive  crops  of  onions  and  tobacco  that 
are    now    raised    each    year.      Some    Irish    and    Canadian 
families   came   to   Hatfield    about    1850.      A   few   German 
families  came  about  the  same  time.     The  Poles  came  in 
the  Eighties  and  Nineties.     The  last  census  gave  about  600 
Poles  and  some  over  500  Irish,  German,  and  French  people 
as  residents  of  the  town.     Of  66  children  born  in  Hatfield 
in    1907,   43   were    the   children    of   foreign   born  parents. 
There  are  about  40  Hungarian  Poles  who  are  Protestants, 
Nearly  all  the  rest  of  the  foreign  population  are  devoted 
to  the  Catholic  faith.     In    1892  a  neat    house  of  worship 
was  built  by  this  part  of  the  population.     Not  a  few  of  the 
foreign    residents    have    prospered    and    built    substantial 
homes  for  themselves  in  the  town.     Jacob  and  Frederick 
Carl,  who  came  from  Germany  about  1856  and  settled  in 
Hatfield,  are  among  the  most  successful  business  men  of 
the  town,  being  well  known  as  large  growers  and  packers 
of  tobacco.    Mr.  Edward  Proulx,  who  originally  came  from 
Canada  and  who  settled  in  Hatfield  in  1847,  ^as  accumulated 
a   handsome   property.     John    McHugh,    Michael    Boyle, 
James  Ryan,  and  their  families,  have  enjoyed  great  pros- 
perity since  their  settlement  in  the  town.     It  is  pleasant  to 
record  that  good  feeling  and  harmony  have  prevailed  be- 
tween the  people  of  American  stock  and  the  foreign  pop- 
ulation.    A  broad  Christian  spirit  of  tolerance  in  civil  and 
religious   affairs   has  characterized   both   parties  from  the 
beginning  and   contributed   greatly  to  the  welfare  of  the 

17 


community  and  the  material  progress  of  the  town.  Hat- 
field affords  a  fine  example  of  the  harmonious  mingling  of 
people  of  different  nationalities  in  community  life  under 
our  free  institutions.  If  the  conditions  existing  in  Hatfield 
prevailed  everywhere  in  the  United  States  our  country 
would  have  no  problem  occasioned  by  the  presence  of  the 
foreigner. 

Hatfield  has  produced  not  a  few  men  of  great  ability 
and  large  influence.  The  story  of  her  early  ministers  will  be 
told  in  another  chapter.  Col.  Israel  Williams  was  one  of  the 
best  known  and  most  influential  men  of  the  western  section 
of  the  state  in  his  day.  For  more  than  sixty  years  Oliver 
Smith  has  been  honored  in  all  this  region  for  his  notable  work 
in  founding  the  Smith  Charities.  Sophia  Smith  by  her  great 
benefaction  to  her  sex  in  founding  her  college  has  gained 
for  herself  wide  and  enduring  fame. 

Colonel  Samuel  Partridge,  who  was  born  in  1645  and 
died  in  1740,  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Hatfield.  He 
was  known  in  Boston  as  one  of  the  "River  gods,"  and  was 
a  powerful  colonial  leader  in  the  Valley.  He  lived  to  be 
ninety-five  years  old  and  was  active  to  the  end  of  his  life. 

Samuel  D.  Partridge,  who  was  born  in  Hatfield  the 
latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  lived  to  a  very  old 
age,  was  a  man  of  great  personal  worth  and  in  his  "Remi- 
niscences" has  left  valuable  material  for  the  future  his- 
torian of  Hatfield.  Samuel  P.  Billings,  who  was  at  once 
farmer,  lawyer  and  politician,  and  who  died  in  1902  at  the 
age  of  eighty-three  years,  exerted  a  large  influence  in 
town  affairs  and  was  for  many  years  the  leading  Demo- 
crat in  the  town.  The  writer  well  remembers  when  he  was  a 
boy  the  oratorical  contests  that  took  place  in  town  meetings 
between   Mr.   Billings  and  Thaddeus  Graves,  spokesman 

18 


for  the  Republican  side  of  the  house.  Both  men  were  pos- 
sessed of  good  oratorical  powers.  The  writer  gratefully  records 
the  fact  that  it  was  an  eloquent  speech  by  Mr.  Billings 
made  in  town  meeting  that  influenced  the  voters  of  Hatfield 
to  act  favorably  upon  a  motion  to  erect  the  fine  schoolhouse 
and  hall  now  standing  in  Bradstreet. 

Of  those  who  have  gone  from  the  town  in  recent  time 
and  won  recognition  elsewhere,  perhaps  the  most  worthy 
of  mention  is  the  late  Edward  C.  Billings,  who  was  for 
many  years  judge  of  the  United  States  District  Court  of 
Louisiana.  Mr.  Henry  C.  Marsh,  proprietor  of  the  Cooley 
House,  Springfield,  Mass.,  is  one  of  the  leading  business 
men  of  his  city,  greatly  respected  by  all  for  his  business 
ability  and  public  spirit.  Among  the  younger  men  who  have 
gone  from  Hatfield  and  made  a  good  record  for  themselves 
in  the  business  world  mention  may  be  made  of  Mr.  Elliott 
H.  Wight  of  New  York,  Mr.  J.  H.  Wight  of  Northampton, 
Mass.,  Mr.  Henry  Cutter  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  Mr.  Clarence 
E.  Belden,  who  has  recently  purchased  a  home  in  his  native 
town,  Mr.  H.  W.  Field  of  Northampton,  Mass.,  and  Mr. 
Edward  Belden  of  Boston.  Rev.  Wm.  B.  AUis  has  made 
a  good  record  as  a  Congregational  clergyman.  Mr.  James 
C.  Leary,  who  left  Hatfield  penniless  and  was  picked  up 
in  New  York  City  by  a  charitable  society  and  sent  west, 
has  become  well  known  in  business  and  political  circles  in 
Salt  Lake  City,  where  he  resides.  Dea.  George  W.  Hubbard, 
after  a  long  residence  in  Hatfield  where  he  had  great  in- 
fluence in  town  and  church  aff^airs,  moved  to  Northampton. 
He  was  for  several  years  President  of  the  Smith  Charities. 
He  had  much  to  do  with  the  founding  of  Smith  College, 
having  been  a  trusted  adviser  of  Miss  Sophia  Smith,  and 
at  his  death  left  the  bulk  of  his  large  estate  to  the  College. 


19 


Although  agriculture  has  always  been  the  leading  in- 
terest in  the  business  life  of  the  town,  mention  should  be 
made  of  the  Porter  Machine  Works,  of  which  Mr.  Jonathan 
Edwards  Porter,  a  great  grandson  of  the  famous  Jonathan 
Edwards,  is  the  leading  spirit.  Maj.  C.  S.  Shattuck's 
Gun  Shop  is  also  an  important  industry  of  the  town.  These 
industries  are  located  on  Mill  River,  not  far  from  the  site 
of  Thomas  Meekins'  grist-mill. 

During  the  Civil  War  Hatfield  was  intensely  loyal  to 
the  Union.  Her  citizens  abhorred  the  institution  of  slavery. 
Oliver  Smith  in  his  will  gave  the  sum  of  ten  thousand 
dollars  to  the  American  Colonization  Society.  This  is 
some  indication  of  the  feeling  existing  in  the  town  against 
slavery.  Rev.  John  M.  Greene,  who  was  the  Hatfield 
minister  from  1857  to  1868,  was  a  man  of  unusual  pulpit 
ability,  intensely  devoted  to  the  idea  of  human  rights  and 
patriotic  in  spirit.  His  sermons  were  well  calculated  to  in- 
spire a  strong  feeling  for  the  Union  cause  in  the  Civil  War. 
The  author  of  this  book,  although  very  young  at  the  time, 
has  not  forgotten  the  great  feeling  shown  by  the  minister 
and  his  impressive  speech  as  he  discoursed  to  the  people 
the  Sunday  following  Lincoln's  assassination.  Back  of  the 
pulpit  was  draped  a  large  American  flag.  The  minister 
made  it  appear  that  rebellion  and  slavery  and  the  death  of 
Lincoln  were  truly  works  of  Satanic  origin.  No  youth 
could  have  been  present  on  such  an  occasion  without  being 
inspired  with  loyalty  to  the  Union  and  abhorrence  of  every- 
thing associated  with  the  Rebellion.  About  an  even  hundred 
men  from  Hatfield  enlisted  in  the  war  for  the  perservation  of 
the  Union  and  about  one  quarter  of  this  number  lost  their 
lives  in  the  service  of  their  country.  The  names  of  the 
Civil  War  soldiers  are  inscribed  on  one  of  the  tablets  in 
Memorial  Hall. 


20 


DOORWAY  OF  THE  MORTON  HOUSE 


Hatfield  has  an  extraordinary  record  for  the  gifts  of  its 
wealthy  citizens  to  educational,  philanthropic,  and  religious 
objects.  The  well  known  Smith  Charities,  an  institution 
that  has  aided  a  great  number  of  worthy  young  men  and 
women  to  get  a  start  in  life  and  has  afforded  relief  to  many 
widows  left  with  young  children  to  support;  Smith  College, 
which  in  a  single  generation  has  come  to  be  one  of  the  best 
known  and  the  largest  of  the  institutions  in  this  country 
for  the  higher  education  of  women;  Smith  Academy  in 
Hatfield;  the  Dickinson  Hospital  in  Northampton;  and  the 
Smith  Agricultural  School  now  being  started  in  North- 
ampton, all  owe  their  existence  to  the  benevolent  spirit 
and  liberal  gifts  of  former  residents  of  Hatfield.  The 
founder  of  Williams  College  wrote  in  his  last  will  and 
testament,  "I,  Ephraim  Williams  of  Hatfield,"  thus  repre- 
senting himself  to  be  a  resident  of  Hatfield  at  the  time  of 
his  death.  Sophia  Smith  gave  ^30,000  to  Andover  Theo- 
logical Seminary.  Dea.  Geo.  W.  Hubbard  left  the  bulk  of 
his  estate  of  ^75,000  to  Smith  College.  Samuel  and  Abby 
Dickinson  made  large  gifts  to  the  American  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions  and  the  Congregational  Home  Missionary 
Society.  The  former  gave  the  new  Memorial  Hall  to  Hat- 
field. This  is  a  remarkable  record  for  a  place  of  the  size 
of  Hatfield  and  speaks  volumes  for  the  influence  of  the 
pastors  of  the  Hatfield  church,  who  from  the  time  of  the 
first  minister  of  the  church,  the  Rev.  Hope  Atherton,  down 
to  the  pastorate  of  the  present  incumbent.  Rev.  Robert 
M.  Woods,  D.D.,  have  been  men  of  broad  vision  and  liberal 
spirit,  inculcating  with  great  fidelity  the  doctrine  of  Christian 
stewardship. 

It  is  quite  remarkable  that  nearly  all  of  the  money 
donated  to  worthy  objects  by  residents  of  Hatfield  should 
have  gone  out  of  the  town.    One  wonders  why  Oliver  Smith 


21 


did  not  provide  that  his  Agricultural  school  should  be 
established  in  Hatfield.  Surely  there  is  no  better  situation 
for  such  an  institution  than  is  afforded  by  the  town  with  its 
rich  farming  lands  and  central  location  in  the  Connecticut 
Valley.  Why  was  not  Smith  College  located  in  the  founder's 
native  town  ?  Why  should  not  Smith  Academy,  the  only 
monument  of  the  Smith  family  in  Hatfield,  have  been  given 
an  adequate  endowment .''  Would  it  not  be  a  good  thing  if 
some  of  the  former  wealthy  residents  had  given  the  church 
a  handsome  endowment  ?  The  writer  of  this  book  has  made 
some  effort  to  discover  the  influences  that  determined 
the  giving  of  so  much  of  the  wealth  of  Hatfield  to  objects 
outside  of  the  town. 

He  has  made  a  special  effort  through  correspondence 
with  Rev.  John  M.  Greene,  D.D.,  Sophia  Smith's  chief 
adviser,  to  ascertain  the  reason  for  the  location  of  Smith 
College  in  Northampton  rather  than  in  the  founder's  native 
town.  He  has  satisfied  himself  in  the  matter  and  is  convinced 
that  the  donors  of  the  large  sums  of  money  that  have  gone 
out  of  Hatfield  were  governed  for  the  most  part  by  a  desire 
to  bestow  their  gifts  in  such  ways  as  to  accomplish  the 
greatest  good.  Directly  or  indirectly  Hatfield  is  the  bene- 
ficiary of  the  liberal  giving  of  her  former  residents.  Special 
consideration  is  shown  students  from  Hatfield  at  Smith 
College. 

In  a  letter  dated  July  lo,  1908,  Dr.  Greene,  referring 
to  the  time  of  the  making  of  Miss  Smith's  will,  says:  "I 
think  now  as  I  thought  then  that  Campmeeting  Hill  in 
Hatfield  where  we  could  have  had  a  hundred  acres  of  land 
in  our  campus,  was  the  place  for  the  college."  Dr.  Greene 
adds,  "Both  Deacon  Hubbard  and  myself  wanted  to  have 
the  college  located  in  Hatfield."  Miss  Smith  would  con- 
sent to  Hatfield  as  the  location  for  the  college.   There  was, 


22 


REV.  JOHN  M.  GREENE,  D.D. 

The  Originator  of  the  idea  of  Smith  College 


however,  a  difference  of  opinion  among  the  friends  of  the 
project  as  to  whether  the  college  should  be  located  on  or 
near  King's  Hill,  or  simply  in  the  town  of  Hatfield,  leaving 
it  to  the  trustees  to  decide  as  to  the  exact  spot.  At  the  sug- 
gestion and  through  the  efforts  of  Dr.  Greene,  Northampton 
was  finally  agreed  upon  as  the  place  for  the  college.  The 
writer  is  persuaded  that  the  facts  are  substantially  as  he  has 
given  them.  He  thinks  that  time  has  proved  the  wisdom 
of  the  final  decision  as  to  the  site  of  the  college  and  that  in 
this  important  matter  a  higher  Power  may  have  guided  Miss 
Smith  and  her  advisers.  Surely  what  was  Hatfield's  loss 
was  Northampton's  gain.  It  is  improbable  that  Smith 
College  would  have  grown  to  its  present  proportions  and 
secured  so  much  additional  support  from  people  of  wealth 
as  it  has  had  if  it  had  been  located  in  Hatfield. 

Dr.  Greene  kindly  read  and  approved  the  part  of  the 
manuscript  relating  to  the  location  of  the  college.* 

To  the  great  credit  of  the  Hatfield  people  it  can  be 
recorded  that  in  the  whole  history  of  the  place  there  has 
been  no  appearance  of  that  sectarian  spirit,  which  has  de- 
veloped in  so  many  of  our  small  New  England  communities, 
dividing  the  people  into  small  religious  groups  and  often 
giving  rise  to  unseemly  rivalry  and  bitterness  of  spirit. 
Among  the  causes  that  have  contributed  to  the  religious 


*In  his  "Reminiscences"  Samuel  D.  Partridge  says  of  Miss 
Smith:  "She  was  at  heart  loyal  to  her  native  town,  and  when  she 
had  decided  upon  the  establishmentof  a  FemaIeCollege,sheexpected 
to  locate  the  institution  in  Hatfield;  but  those  of  whom  she  sought 
advice,  were  of  a  different  mind,  some  urging  the  claims  of 
Northampton,  some  of  Amherst,  until  she  was  finally  persuaded 
to  locate  it  in  Northampton;  and  it  may  be  that  circumstances 
in  the  future  will  justify  the  conclusion  which  now  seems 
so  unsatisfactory  to  the  friends  of  Hatfield."  Mr.  Partridge's 
"Reminiscences"  were  written  in   1880. 


23 


unity  that  has  characterized  the  town  are  the  facts  that  the 
people  were  in  the  early  days  so  closely  related  by  common 
interests,  the  character  and  influence  of  the  distinguished 
men  who  have  served  the  town  as  pastors  of  the  local 
church,  and  the  location  of  the  town  in  a  region  that  has 
from  the  beginning  been  dominated  by  Congregational 
influences  in  religion  and  education.  For  about  two  and 
a  quarter  centuries  one  church  sufficed  to  minister  to  the 
religious  needs  of  the  town.  Of  course,  with  the  coming  to 
Hatfield  of  so  large  a  number  of  residents  of  the  Catholic 
faith  it  became  necessary  to  organize  a  church  of  that 
denomination  to  minister  to  the  Catholic  population. 


24 


^L.     p^i^^^^^^^^^^l^^ 

i.i 

~^^vVm||^^^^y^^K<''''*^<iSS^ 

SOPHIA  SMITH  AT  72 


Sophia  Smith  Founder  of 
Smith  College 

WHEN  the  author  of  this  book  was  a  small  boy  and  sat 
in  the  pew  with  his  mother  in  the  Hatfield  church 
he  used  to  see  a  very  dignified  and  well  dressed 
elderly  lady  walk  down  the  center  aisle  of  the  church  and 
take  a  seat  a  little  distance  in  front  of  him.  One  Sunday 
a  young  girl  walking  behind  the  dignified  lady  inadvertently 
stepped  on  the  trail  of  her  dress  and  received  from  her 
such  a  severe  look  in  reproof  that  she  has  never  forgotten 
it.  The  dignified  lady  was  Miss  Sophia  Smith  and  the  young 
girl  afterwards  became  the  accomplished  wife  of  Mr. 
Edward  Bellamy,  author  o{ Looking  Backward.  The  author 
had  no  acquaintance  with  Miss  Smith  and  is  not  disposed 
to  picture  her  as  angelic  in  character  or  in  any  way  superior  to 
the  average  Christian  woman  of  the  New  England  type  of 
a  former  generation.  He  will  try  to  describe  her  as  she 
seemed  to  her  neighbors. 

Sophia  Smith  was  descended  from  Lieutenant  Samuel 
Smith,  who  came  to  this  country  from  England  in  1634  and 
was  one  of  the  leading  men  in  the  early  history  of  Hadley. 
She  was  related  to  Mary  Lyon,  who  was  also  a  descendant 
of  Lieutenant  Smith.  She  was  born  in  Hatfield,  August 
27,  1796,  six  months  before  Mary  Lyon  was  born  in  Buck- 
land.  Her  grandmother  on  her  father's  side  was  Mary 
Morton,  the  mother  of  Oliver  Smith.  The  grandmother, 
who  was  a  woman  of  great  energy,  thrift  and  piety,  exerted 
a    strong    influence    upon    Sophia    Smith.      Miss    Smith's 

25 


father  and  mother  were  persons  of  excellent  standing  in 
the  community.  Her  mother's  name  was  Lois  White.  She 
was  a  woman  of  earnest  Christian  character,  a  member 
of  the  Hatfield  church,  a  faithful  mother  and  a  good  house- 
keeper. Miss  Smith's  father  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary war  and  was  one  of  the  richest  men  in  the  town. 
The  house  in  which  Miss  Smith  was  born  and  in  which  she 
lived  until  she  was  sixty-eight  years  old  is  still  standing.  It 
is  a  plain  structure  and  stands  a  little  below  the  church  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  road,  next  to  the  beautiful  residence 
which  Miss  Smith  built  not  long  before  her  death.  It  is 
marked  by  a  tablet.  Here  Mr.  Austin  Smith  and  his  two 
sisters,  Sophia  and  Harriet,  lived  together  for  many  years. 
After  the  death  of  her  brother  Austin,  Miss  Smith  built  the 
new  residence  in  which  she  spent  the  last  years  of  her  life 
and  where  she  died,  June  12,  1870.  In  Sophia  Smith's 
girlhood  Dr.  Joseph  Lyman  was  pastor  of  the  Hatfield 
church.  He  was  a  preacher  of  great  ability,  was  for  a  time 
President  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions,  and  held  a  foremost  place  among  the 
ministers  of  New  England.  His  influence  over  Miss  Smith 
in  the  formative  period  of  her  life  was  very  great.  He  doubt- 
less inspired  her  with  a  serious  purpose  in  life  and  im- 
parted to  her  something  of  his  own  patriotic  spirit  and 
breadth  of  views.  Her  educational  advantages  were 
necessarily  meagre.  She  attended  the  schools  of  her  native 
place  and  was  for  a  term  or  more  a  pupil  in  the  Hopkins 
Academy  in  Hadley.  She  also  attended  a  school  in  Hartford 
for  a  short  time.  Her  home  in  her  girlhood  was  supplied 
with  such  books  as  were  usually  found  in  the  better  class  of 
New  England  homes  of  that  period.  There  was  diligent 
study  of  the  Bible  in  her  home.  The  expounding  of  the 
Bible  in  that  day  had  much  to  do  with  the  making  of  a  man 

26 


COLONLAL  PORCH  OF  SOPHIA  SMITH'S  NEW  RESIDENCE 


like  Oliver  Smith,  or  a  woman  like  Sophia  Smith.  The 
Bible  was  truly  "a  lamp  to  their  feet  and  a  light  to  their 
path."  Dr.  John  M.  Greene,  Miss  Smith's  pastor  from 
1857  to  1868,  writes  of  her  as  follows:  "I  knew  Miss  Smith 
intimately  the  last  thirteen  years  of  her  life.  No  one  could 
know  her,  and  not  respect  her.  Her  course  of  life  was  quiet, 
thoughtful,  uneventful.  There  were  no  startling  episodes, 
no  wild  romances  in  it.  She  built  few  castles  in  dream- 
land or  in  love-land.  Life  was  serious,  real,  to  her.  She 
walked  with  her  feet  on  terra  firma,  not  in  the  clouds.  She  was 
a  women  of  high  sentiment,  but  not  sentimental.  She  never 
uttered  diatribes  against  married  life,  but  she  always  com- 
mended it;  yet  she  was  content  to  remain  unmarried,  fully 
persuaded  that  was  the  life  God  meant  for  her." 

This  is  doubtless  a  true  portrait  of  Miss  Smith  drawn 
by  one  who  knew  her  intimately.  October  15,  1866,  Miss 
Smith  wrote  in  her  journal:  "It  is  a  cloudy,  stormy  day. 
I  do  not  go  to  church  this  forenoon,  but  I  hope  to  go  in  the 
afternoon  for  the  purpose  of  contributing  to  the  American 
Missionary  Society,  which  labors  among  the  poor  people  in 
the  South.  I  desire  to  give  where  duty  calls."  Such  an 
entry  in  her  journal  throws  much  light  upon  Miss  Smith's 
character.  Her  ideas  of  dress  are  revealed  in  an  entry  in 
her  journal  August  20,  1867:  "Things  must  be  simple  to 
be  elegant;  the  greatest  ornament  is  of  a  meek  and  quite 
spirit."  In  her  later  life  Miss  Smith  was  a  great  reader  of 
the  sermons  of  the  noted  preachers  of  the  day. 

A  heavy  responsibility  devolved  upon  Miss  Smith  at  the 
death  of  her  brother  Austin.  She  already  possessed  all  the 
money  she  cared  for  and  now  her  brother's  large  fortune  came 
to  her.  Her  brother  left  no  directions  in  regard  to  what  use  he 
desired  to  have  made  of  the  money  which  he  left.  Miss  Smith 
was  not  one  to  receive  such  a  large  fortune  lightly.    The  idea 

27 


of  Christian  stewardship  prevailed  with  her.  Weahh  was 
not  something  to  be  wasted  in  extravagant  living  or  vain 
show,  but  was  a  trust.  She  would  no  more  have  thought  of 
misusing  the  means  left  to  her  by  her  brother  than  she  would 
have  been  disposed  to  tell  a  falsehood  or  commit  a  crime. 
She  regarded  it  as  her  duty  to  make  a  wise  disposition  of 
her  fortune.  Her  responsibility  was  to  God  and  her  burden 
was  no  light  one.  There  was  nothing  in  her  training  to  fit 
her  for  such  a  burden  as  had  suddenly  been  placed  upon  her. 
Yet  she  had  principle  and  was  bound  to  be  conscientious 
in  whatever  disposal  she  made  of  her  means.  What  was 
more  natural  than  for  her  in  such  an  emergency  to  turn  to 
her  trusted  friend  and  pastor  for  help!  This  she  did.  Dr. 
Greene  writes :  "On  the  first  day  of  May,  1861,  Miss  Sophia 
Smith  came  to  my  study  in  Hatfield  and  besought  me  to 
help  her  in  the  disposition  of  her  brother's  property  which 
had  fallen  to  her."  She  was  very  determined  in  her  idea 
that  her  pastor  ought  to  help  her  in  the  emergency.  Her 
course  was  a  wise  one  and  in  Dr.  Greene  she  had  a  com- 
petent and  faithful  helper  in  the  solution  of  her  problem. 
He  was  a  man  of  liberal  education  and  broad  views.  He 
possessed  great  foresight  and  well  understood  the  tendencies 
of  his  times.  After  some  deliberation  he  consented  to  give 
Miss  Smith  the  aid  she  asked  for.  The  world  is  indebted 
to  three  persons  for  the  founding  of  Smith  College,  Sophia 
Smith  who  gave  the  money,  Austin  Smith  who  accumulated 
it,  and  Rev.  John  M.  Greene,  who  originated  the  idea  of 
the  College.  After  some  weeks  of  deliberation  Dr.  Greene 
proposed  two  plans  to  Miss  Smith  for  the  disposal  of  her 
property.  One  of  these  plans  was  the  founding  of  an  in- 
stitution for  the  education  of  women  that  should  be  equal 
in  grade  of  scholarship  and  requirements  to  the  colleges 
for  men.     This  plan  was  finally  adopted   by  Miss  Smith 

28 


OIL  PAINTING  OF  SOPHIA  SMITH 


and  to  its  execution  she  devoted  herself  with  great  interest 
and  determination.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  she  was  visited 
by  a  large  number  of  strong-minded  and  influential  people 
with  proposals  for  the  disposition  of  her  property  and  must 
at  times  have  been  almost  bewildered  by  the  number  of 
those  urging  their  ideas  upon  her  and  the  variety  of  propo- 
sitions made  by  them,  she  steadfastly  adhered  to  her 
purpose  to  found  the  college  and  Dr.  Greene's  influence 
over  her  remained  dominant.  Apart  from  the  gift  of  ^75,000 
for  Smith  Academy,  her  entire  estate,  amounting  to  $475,000 
was  left  at  her  death  for  the  founding  of  Smith  College  in 
Northampton.  It  is  noteworthy  that  such  a  far  sighted 
project  as  an  institution  for  the  higher  education  of  women 
should  have  been  suggested  to  Miss  Smith  by  Dr.  Greene 
or  approved  by  her.  It  is  an  indication  of  the  wisdom  of 
both  Miss  Smith  and  Dr.  Greene.  It  was  indeed  the  very 
time  for  the  undertaking  of  such  a  project.  But  some  of  the 
ablest  and  wisest  people  of  the  day  pronounced  the  plan 
visionary.  It  is  easy  enough  now  to  see  that  the  time  was 
ripe  for  such  an  institution  as  was  planned  by  this  Hatfield 
woman  and  her  pastor.  The  growth  and  prosperity  of 
Smith  College  have  been  far  beyond  what  any  one  an- 
ticipated at  the  time  of  Miss  Smith's  death.  It  met  a  real 
demand  of  the  times  and  such  has  been  the  wisdom  of  those 
who  have  guided  its  affairs  that  its  present  usefulness  is 
beyond  estimation. 

The  ancient  records  of  Hatfield  show  that  it  was  in 
the  mind  of  the  first  settlers  to  build  a  college.  Some  steps 
were  taken  towards  securing  such  an  institution.  Three 
of  the  early  ministers  of  Hatfield,  Hope  Atherton,  Nathaniel 
Chauncy,  and  William  Williams,  were  graduates  of  Harvard 
College.  Timothy  Woodbridge  and  Joseph  Lyman  were 
graduates  of  Yale.     Elisha  Williams,  born  and  bred  in  Hat- 

29 


field,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  became  the  third  presi- 
dent of  Yale  College.  Col.  Ephraim  Williams,  the  founder  of 
Williams  College,  dwelt  in  Hatfield  several  years.  Jonathan 
Dickinson,  the  first  president  of  Princeton  College,  was  bom 
and  reared  in  Hatfield.  Hatfield  was  for  a  long  time  the 
home  of  scholars  and  friends  of  education.  It  is  not  sur- 
prising that  the  large  fortune  made  by  Austin  Smith  and 
inherited  from  him  by  his  sister  Sophia  Smith  should  have 
been  devoted  to  the  upbuilding  of  a  great  educational  in- 
stitution in  the  immediate  region. 

Smith  College  was  chartered  in  1871.  The  total  amount 
of  funds  available  at  the  time  was  $41 1,608 .  29.  The  estates 
of  Judge  Dewey  and  Judge  Lyman  in  Northampton  were 
purchased  for  a  site,  at  a  cost  of  1^51, 000.  In  June,  1873, 
Professor  L.  Clark  Seelye  of  Amherst  College,  was  chosen 
President.  July  14,  1875,  the  College  proper  was  dedicated 
and  President  Seelye  inaugurated.  The  first  class  grad- 
uated in  1879  and  numbered  eleven  members.  The  author 
of  this  book  was  present  on  the  occasion  and  well  remembers 
the  great  interest  felt  by  the  large  number  present  and  the 
enthusiasm  of  President  Eliot  of  Harvard,  who  was  present, 
and  the  youthful  and  serious  appearance  of  the  new  Presi- 
dent of  the  College,  Professor  Seelye.  The  author  was 
present  at  the  last  commencement  of  the  College  and  could 
not  help  reflecting  upon  the  wonderful  growth  of  the  in- 
stitution in  the  short  time  that  has  passed  and  the  wide 
influence  it  is  exerting  today  in  the  educational  world.  As 
every  one  knows  it  has  become  one  of  the  best  known  and 
most  largely  attended  colleges  for  women  in  the  world. 
It  has  been  extensively  patronized  by  people  of  wealth  as  a 
suitable  place  for  the  education  of  their  daughters.  At 
the  same  time  it  can  be  said  that  a  poor  girl  has  a  splendid 
chance  to  gain  an  education  in  the  institution  without  the 

30 


least  embarrassment  or  loss  of  self  respect.  The  College 
has  become  one  of  the  leading  factors  in  the  life  of  the 
Connecticut  Valley.  It  dominates  in  the  city  of  North- 
ampton. Its  graduates,  now  numbering  a  great  army  of 
splendidly  equipped  women,  are  scattered  over  the  entire 
United  States,  and  many  are  at  work  in  foreign  lands.  The 
institution  that  originated  in  the  mind  of  the  Rev.  John  M. 
Greene  and  was  made  possible  by  the  liberality  of  Sophia 
Smith,  is  destined  in  future  time  to  share  with  Harvard  and 
Yale  and  Holyoke  and  a  long  list  of  other  splendid  edu- 
cational institutions  in  the  making  of  an  American  nation 
that  in  the  strength  of  its  manhood  and  the  beauty  and 
worth  of  its  womanhood  shall  be  foremost  among  the  nations 
of  the  world. 

An  interesting  provision  in  Miss  Smith's  will  states  that 
it  was  her  object  "to  provide  an  education  suited  to  the 
mental  and  physical  wants  of  women."  It  is  further  stated 
that  it  was  not  her  purpose  "to  render  the  sex  any  the  less 
feminine,  but  to  develop  as  fully  as  may  be  the  powers  of 
womankind." 

It  is  the  universal  testimony  of  those  who  were  well 
acquainted  with  Austin  Smith  that  he  was  not  liberally  dis- 
posed toward  educational  interests.  Samuel  Partridge  in  his 
"Reminiscences"  says  of  Austin  Smith's  father:  "He  gave 
his  children  very  meagre  opportunities  for  mental  culture: 
teaching  them  by  his  example  that  the  chief  object  in  life  was 
to  acquire  property  by  industry,  and  preserve  it  by  economy." 
Austin  Smith  himself  once  introduced  a  resolution  in  town 
meeting  forbidding  all  instruction  in  the  public  schools 
except  in  reading,  writing,  arithmetic  and  geography.  It 
is  said  that  he  was  disposed  to  look  with  contempt  upon  the 
education  of  women.  Strange  it  is  that  two  men  like  Austin 
Smith  and  his  father  should  have  accumulated  the  wealth 


31 


that  was  used  in  founding  the  leading  college  for  women  in 
the  country!  Some  of  the  Christian  people  of  Hatfield  are 
disposed  to  regard  this  as  an  example  of  God's  overruling 
power. 

Is  it  not  altogether  probable  that  men  of  a  different 
type  from  Oliver  and  Austin  Smith  would  never  have 
accumulated  and  saved  the  wealth  that  became  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Smith  Charities,  Smith  Agricultural  School, 
Smith  Academy,  and  Smith  College  ?  If  in  the  time  that 
they  were  accumulating  their  wealth  they  were,  as  some 
who  ought  to  know  affirm,  penurious  and  lacking  in 
public  spirit,  certainly  in  the  disposition  that  was  made  of 
their  property  there  was  an  exhibition  of  rare  wisdom  and 
public  spirit,  putting  to  shame  the  folly  and  wicked  ex- 
travagance and  selfishness  of  some  people  of  great  wealth 
of  our  time. 


32 


SOPHLA.  SMITH  S  MONUMENT 


Smith  Academy 


WHEN  Sophia  Smith  went  to  her  pastor,  the  Rev. 
John  M.  Greene,  and  asked  him  to  advise  her  in 
regard  to  the  disposal  of  the  fortune  left  her  by 
her  brother  Austin,  he  thought  of  the  tov^n's  need  of  an 
academy.  In  all  of  his  conferences  with  Miss  Smith  he 
urged  that  in  making  disposal  of  her  money  she  should  first 
of  all  provide  for  the  founding  of  an  academy  in  her  home 
town.  He  was  ably  assisted  in  the  matter  by  Dea.  Geo. 
W.  Hubbard.  Both  men  saw  the  great  need  of  such  an 
institution  for  the  town  and  felt  that  a  part  of  the  fortune 
which  Austin  Smith  had  left  ought  to  be  devoted  to  this 
object.  The  result  was  that  in  her  will  Miss  Smith  left 
;^75,ooo  for  the  founding  of  an  academy  to  be  located  in 
Hatfield.  In  a  letter  written  to  the  author  of  this  book, 
July  6, 1908,  Dr.  Greene  says :  "  I  first  proposed  the  academy 
to  Miss  Smith  and  I  always  defended  it.  It  was  my  suggestion 
and  my  constant  defence  of  it  that  secured  the  Academy  to 
Hatfield.  Dea.  Hubbard  did  good  service  in  helping  me." 
It  is  evident  that  influences  were  brought  to  bear  upon 
Miss  Smith  to  induce  her  to  devote  her  entire  fortune  to 
Smith  College.  Not  only  is  Smith  Academy  a  monument 
to  the  Smith  family  in  the  town  where  they  lived  and  made 
their  money,  but  it  is  doing  a  great  amount  of  good  in  the 
town.  Before  it  was  opened  there  was  no  high  school  in 
the  place  worthy  of  the  name.  The  young  men  and  women 
who  pursued  their  studies  beyond  the  common  school 
course,  as  a  rule,  went  away  to  other  towns  for  their 
educational    advantages.      This    they    did  at  considerable 


33 


inconvenience  and  expense.  Without  doubt  many  for  this 
reason  ceased  to  pursue  their  studies  beyond  the  common 
school  course. 

Smith  Academy  opened  December,  1872  with  an  attend- 
ance of  32  boys  and  25  girls.  Joseph  D.  Billings,  George 
W.  Hubbard,  Jonathan  S.  Graves,  Alpheus  Cowles,  Silas 
G.  Hubbard,  Frederick  D.  Billings,  William  H.  Dickinson, 
and  Daniel  W.  Wells  composed  the  first  board  of  trustees. 
The  first  principal  was  Wilder  B.  Harding.  He  was  a 
graduate  of  the  Westfield  State  Normal  School  and  of  Yale 
College,  class  of  1867.  For  the  first  five  years  he  was  ably 
assisted  in  his  work  by  Mrs.  Harding,  who  was  a  woman 
of  great  personal  charm  and  excellent  ability  as  an  instructor. 
Mr.  Harding  continued  as  principal  until  June,  1885. 
He  was  a  fine  scholar,  a  thorough  educator  and  a  good 
disciplinarian.  The  Academy  thus  opened  under  most 
favorable  conditions  and  was  popular  from  the  beginning. 
In  the  first  years  many  pupils  came  from  the  neighboring 
towns  because  of  the  superior  advantages  afforded  by  the 
school. 

Among  those  who  have  been  at  the  head  of  the  Academy 
are  Prof.  William  Orr,  Prof.  Sanford  L.  Cutler,  Prof.  Ashley 
H.  Thorndike,  Mr.  H.  W.  Dickinson,  and  Mr.  Clayton  R. 
Sanders.      The  present  principal  is  Mr.  A.  J.  Chidester. 

The  first  class  was  graduated  in  June,  1876.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  class  were  Carrie  E.  Graves  (Mrs.  Roswell 
Billings),  M.  Antoinette  Morton,  Emma  E.  Porter  (Mrs. 
David  Billings),  Charles  A.  Wight,  Fannie  E.  Woodard. 
Mr.  Wight  was  the  first  male  graduate  of  the  Academy  and 
the  first  of  its  graduates  to  enter  college.     He  graduated 


34 


from  Yale  College  in  1882.  Since  then  many  of  the  graduates 
of  the  Academy  have  entered  college,  the  majority  going 
to  Amherst  and  Smith. 

The  elm  tree  which  stands  at  the  left  of  the  picture 
in  the  academy  yard  was  set  out  by  the  first  class  at  the  time 
of  their  graduation.  The  other  tree  was  set  out  by  the  class 
of  1877.  The  boulder  was  placed  in  the  yard  by  the  class 
of  1899. 

Smith  Academy  has  been  a  great  benefaction  to  the 
town.  Its  influence  has  led  many  of  the  young  men  and 
women  of  the  town  to  seek  a  higher  education,  and  in  a 
general  way  has  affected  for  good  the  entire  community. 
The  town  makes  an  annual  appropriation  of  $500  for  the 
Academy. 

Miss  Nellie  A.  Waite,  of  the  class  of  1879,  has  been  for 
about  twenty-five  years  a  successful  teacher  in  the  schools 
of  Minneapolis.  Her  sister,  Mary  L.  Waite,  of  the  class 
of  1877,  was  until  her  death  a  short  time  ago,  a  teacher 
in  the  same  schools.  Mr.  Frank  E.  Wing,  of  the  class  of 
1882,  made  a  fine  record  as  a  student  and  writer  at  Yale 
College,  from  which  institution  he  graduated  in  1886.  He 
is  now  Secretary  of  the  L.  S.  Starrett  Company,  Athol, 
Mass.,  and  is  recognized  as  an  able  and  reliable  business 
man.  Clarence  E.  Belden,  of  the  class  of  1877,  is  one  of 
the  leading  business  men  of  Connecticut  Valley  and  is 
the  owner  of  a  beautiful  country  home  in  the  north  part 
of  the  town.  David  Billings,  of  the  class  of  1877,  whose 
accomplished  wife  was  a  member  of  the  first  class,  is  one 
of  the  most  influential  and  highly  respected  citizens  of 
Hatfield.     Henry  Cutter,  of  the  class  of  188 1,  is  a  successful 

35 


business  man  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.  Many  more  of  the 
graduates  of  the  Academy  are  filling  honorable  places  in 
life.  Of  the  older  graduates  whose  names  have  not  already 
been  given,  Albert  L.  Dyer,  Charles  Porter,  George  and 
Oscar  Belden,  Dr.  William  Hubbard,  Anna  H.  Billings, 
and  Dr.  Rose  Fairbanks,  are  worthy  of  special  mention. 
Prominent  graduates  of  recent  years  are  John  H.  Hubbard 
and  Leonard  Allaire. 


36 


OI.IVKR  SMITH'S  ACCOUNT  BOOK  AND  OFFICE  FURNITURE 


T 


Oliver  Smith 

Founder  of  the  Smith  Charities 

HE  last  day  of  April,  1634,  Lieutenant  Samuel  Smith 
and  his  wife  Elizabeth  sailed  from  England  to  Amer- 
ica. Lieutenant  Smith  settled  first  in  Wethersfield, 
Conn.,  but  later  moved  to  Hadley.  He  was  one  of  the  original 
proprietors  of  Hadley  and  was  a  leading  man  in  the  affairs 
of  the  new  settlement.  He  is  listed  in  the  old  records  as 
one  of  ten  200;^  proprietors.  From  Lieutenant  Samuel 
Smith  were  descended  Oliver  Smith,  the  founder  of 
Smith  Charities  and  the  Smith  Agricultural  School,  Sophia 
Smith,  the  founder  of  Smith  College,  and  Mary  Lyon,  the 
founder  of  Mount  Holyoke  College. 

Oliver  Smith,  Esquire,  as  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
is  designated  in  his  last  will  and  testament,  was  born  in 
Hatfield,  January,  1766.  The  house  in  which  he  was  born 
stood  on  the  site  of  the  William  H.  Dickinson  residence. 
It  was  moved  to  North  street  some  years  ago  and  is  still 
standing.  Oliver  Smith  spent  most  of  his  life  on  the  Smith 
homestead,  the  site  of  which  is  now  occupied  by  a  handsome 
residence  owned  by  Mr.  J.  S.  Wells.  The  old  house  was 
unoccupied  for  some  time  and  on  the  eve  of  a  Fourth  of 
July  just  before  the  Civil  war  the  boys  of  the  town  blew  it 
up  with  gunpowder. 

Oliver  Smith  died  December  22,  1845,  at  nearly  eighty 
years  of  age.  His  estate  inventoried  at  $370,000.  His 
kindred  were  in  good  circumstances  and  by  his  last  will  and 
testament  the  bulk  of  his  estate  was  devoted  to  the  founding 
of  the  Smith  Charities  and  the  Smith  Agricultural  School. 

37 


An  examination  of  Oliver  Smith's  will  gives  a  good  idea 
of  the  man  himself  and  throws  considerable  light  upon  the 
ideas  and  customs  of  the  times  in  which  he  lived.  His  home 
was  in  the  midst  of  the  rich  farming  country  of  the  Con- 
necticut Valley.  Most  of  the  people  of  the  valley  were  en- 
gaged in  agricultural  pursuits  and  many  of  them  were  in 
very  moderate  circumstances.  The  young  men  and  women 
were  taught  self  reliance  and  industry.  Agriculture  was  in 
the  earliest  stage  of  its  development.  Families  were  large. 
Obadiah  Dickinson,  who  died  in  1788,  was  the  father  of 
nineteen  children.  The  children  of  parents  in  poor  cir- 
cumstances, were  sometimes  bound  out  to  families  in  good 
circumstances,  where  they  were  cared  for  until  they  attained 
their  majority. 

An  examination  of  Oliver  Smith's  will  makes  it  evident 
that  he  intended  that  his  fortune  should  be  a  public  bene- 
faction forever  and  that  the  benefaction  should  take  the 
form  of  helping  poor  young  men  and  women  of  good  moral 
character  to  get  a  start  in  life,  and  also  aid  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  region.  Hence  the 
provision  in  his  will  for  the  founding  of  the  Smith  Charities 
and  the  Smith  Agricultural  School.  It  is  said  that  Oliver 
Smith  himself  had  received  1^500  at  the  beginning  of  his 
career  from  his  father's  estate.  In  the  provisions  which  he 
made  in  his  will  for  aiding  poor  young  men  and  women  it 
was  evidently  his  aim  to  encourage  industrious  habits  and 
good  moral  character  in  the  beneficiaries  of  his  will,  as 
well  as  to  give  them  substantial  help  in  getting  a  start  in 
life.  The  main  benefits  accruing  from  the  Smith  Charities 
are  the  gifts  of  ^500  each  to  young  men  twenty-one  years 
of  age  who  have  served  a  faithful  apprenticeship  and  have 
maintained  a  good  moral  character;  ^300  as  a  marriage 
portion  to  girls  of  eighteen  years  or  over  who  have  served 

38 


a    faithful   apprenticeship    and    maintained    a    good    moral 
character;    $50  as  a  marriage  portion  to  young  women  to 
be  paid  at  the  discretion  of  the  trustees,  and  sums  of  not 
over  ^50  a  year  and  for  a  length  of  time  of  not  more  than 
seven  years  to  be  paid  to  widows  having  children  dependent 
upon  them,  the  youngest  being  not  over  fourteen  years  of 
age.     Beneficiaries  of  the  will  must  be  residents  of  North- 
ampton,   Amherst,    Hadley,    Hatfield,    and    Williamsburg, 
in   the   county   of  Hampshire,   and    Deerfield,   Greenfield, 
and  Whately,  in  the  county  of  Franklin.     The  fund  orig- 
mally  set  aside  for  this  purpose,  together  with  subsequent 
accumulations,   amounts  to   considerably  over  $1,000,000. 
Since  the  incorporation   of  the  Smith   Charities  payments 
amounting  to  more  than  $2,000,000  have  been  made  by  the 
trustees  in  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  the  will.     In  their 
last  annual  report  the  trustees  say:    "During  the  past  year 
thirty-nine    boys    have    been    indentured.       Loans    of  five 
hundred   dollars  each   have   been   made  to  forty-three  ap- 
prentices.   The  notes  of  forty  others  have  been  surrendered. 
Thirteen  girls  have  been  indentured;   seven  girls  have  mar- 
ried and  received  their  portions.     One  hundred  and  twenty- 
nine  widows  have  been  paid  fifty  dollars  each;  one  hundred 
and  sixty-eight  young  women  have  received  marriage  gifts 
of  the  same  amount.     There  are  now  one  hundred  and  six 
boys  and  twenty-two  girls  under  indenture." 

Since  1890,  Mr.  Daniel  W.  Wells,  of  Hatfield,  has  been 
the  genial  and  efficient  President  of  the  Smith  Charities. 

By  a  provision  of  Oliver  Smith's  will  the  sum  of  ^30,000 
was  set  apart  as  an  accumulating  fund  until  the  expiration 
of  sixty  years,  when  it  was  to  be  paid  over  to  the  town  of 
Northampton  for  the  building  and  equipment  of  the  Smith 
Agricultural  School,  the  object  of  which  was  to  be  the 
conducting  of  a  model  farm  and  the  maintenance  of  a  school 


39 


for  teaching  the  science  of  husbandry.  A  large  tract  of 
land  has  lately  been  purchased  in  the  region  between  North- 
ampton and  Florence  and  buildings  are  now  being  erected 
for  the  Agricultural  School.  The  institution  will  without 
doubt  be  a  great  stimulus  to  scientific  farming  in  the  Valley 
and  may  exert  a  wholesome  influence  in  encouraging  more 
of  the  young  men  of  the  region  to  devote  themselves  to  the 
cultivation  of  the  soil  instead  of  going  to  the  cities  to  further 
swell  their  congested  populations  and  enter  the  already 
overcrowded    trades    and    professions. 

Owing  to  Oliver  Smith's  frugal  disposition  and  sober- 
mindedness  he  never  procured  a  likeness  of  himself.  He 
was  a  typical  New  Englander  of  his  day,  shrewd,  industrious, 
frugal,  honest,  and  blameless  in  his  life.  He  possessed  the 
idea  common  to  his  times  that  money  was  not  to  be  wasted 
in  extravagant  living,  but  was  to  be  put  to  some  good  use. 
In  middle  life  he  was  the  proprietor  of  the  village  store  in 
Hatfield.  He  engaged  in  farming  and  fattened  cattle  for 
the  market.  When  about  sixty  years  of  age,  influenced  no 
doubt  by  the  example  of  his  nephew,  Austin  Smith,  he 
began  to  speculate  in  stocks.  He  bought  his  stocks  in  Wall 
street  and  waited  patiently  for  them  to  increase  in  value. 
In  this  venture,  as  in  all  else  that  he  undertook,  he  was 
successful.  Much  of  the  wealth  that  went  to  the  founding 
of  the  Smith  Charities  and  Smith  College  was  made  in  Wall 
street  speculations. 

The  legal  contest  over  the  provisions  of  Oliver  Smith's 
will  is  famous  in  the  history  of  the  Hampshire  county  bar. 

The  trial  in  the  Supreme  Court  opened  July  6,  1847. 
The  celebrated  lawyer,  Rufus  Choate,  was  counsel  for  the 
heirs-at-law  and  Daniel  Webster  appeared  as  leading  counsel 
for  the  executor  in  behalf  of  the  will.  The  jury  returned  a 
verdict  for  the  will.     There  was  great  excitement  over  the 


40 


THE  GRAVES  MExMORlAL  STONE 


contest  and  while  the  trial  was  in  progress  the  court  house 

was    thronged   with    people   from    Northampton,    Hatfield 

and  other  nearby  towns. 

Oliver  Smith's  grave  is  in  the  Hatfield  cemetery  behind 

the  church.     He  is  deserving  of  grateful  remembrance  as 

one  of  the  great  philanthropists  of  his  day.     The  people 

of  Hatfield  may  well  be  proud  to  number  him  among  their 

former  residents. 

The  articles   of  furniture  shown  in  the  accompanying 

illustration  are  now  preserved  in  the  home  of  Mr.  D.  W. 

Wells  and  the  old  account  book  is  kept  among  the  archives 

of  the  town  in  Memorial  Hall. 

In  his  "Reminiscences"  Samuel  Partridge  who  knew 

Oliver  Smith  intimately  for  many  years  says:  "When  a  boy 
wished  himself  'as  rich  as  Oliver  Smith'  he  was  supposed 
to  wish  for  boundless  wealth.  Oliver  Smith  had  naturally 
a  good  mind,  with  plenty  of  hard  common  sense,  and  was 
of  a  rather  taciturn  habit.  He  was  honest  in  his  dealings, 
intending  to  claim  no  more  than  what  rightfully  be- 
longed to  him.  He  possessed  an  uncommon  judgment  in 
business  matters,  so  that  his  investments,  so  far  as  I  know, 
were  invariably  successful.  He  always  argued  that  a  liberal 
education  was  a  hindrance  in  a  man's  career,  and  carried 
statistics  in  his  pocket,  which  he  would  often  read  to  enforce 
his  argument." 

This  characteristic  throws  some  light  upon  the  nature 
of  the  Agricultural  School  for  the  founding  of  which  he  pro- 
vided, and  in  which  young  men  are  to  be  instructed  in 
practical  farming.  Mr.  Partridge  says  further  of  Oliver 
Smith:  "During  the  thirty  years  or  more  of  my  recollection 
of  him,  he  wore  the  same  over-garments,  yet,  by  reason  of 
certain  trimness  and  neatness,  he  always  appeared  respect- 
ably dressed."     Mr.  Partridge  testifies  that  Oliver  Smith's 


41 


gifts  to  religious  and  philanthropic  objects  during  his  life- 
time were  small  and  infrequent.  If,  as  Mr.  Partridge  affirms, 
he  withheld  the  greater  part  of  his  property  from  taxation, 
he  was  no  more  guilty  in  this  respect  than  thousands  of 
highly  respected  wealthy  people  who  have  lived  since  his 
day. 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  add  that  the  first  indenture 
under  the  Oliver  Smith  will  was  made  between  Elisha 
Wells  and  Joseph  D.  Billings,  of  Hatfield,  Dec.  24,  1847. 
By  the  terms  of  the  indenture  Otis  Wells,  son  of  Elisha  Wells, 
was  bound  out  to  Joseph  D.  Billings.  As  trustees  of  the 
will  had  not  yet  been  elected,  the  proceeding  was  authorized 
and  the  papers  of  indenture  signed  by  the  executor  of  the 
will,  Austin  Smith.  The  witnesses  were  Caleb  Dickinson, 
an  uncle  of  the  writer  of  this  sketch,  and  Mary  Ann  Billings. 
All  the  parties  to  the  transaction  are  now  dead  and  their 
graves  may  be  seen  in  the  cemetery  back  of  the  church. 
The  original  indenture  is  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  D.  W. 
Wells,  of  Hatfield. 


42 


THE  HATFIELD  CHURCH 


The  Hatfield  Church 

HATFIELD  has  a  most  interesting  and  commendable 
religious  history.  The  early  settlers  were  devoted 
to  religious  worship  and  the  maintenance  of  the 
institutions  of  religion.  In  fact  it  was  their  desire  to  insure 
their  prosperity  in  religious  matters  that  led  to  the  separation 
from  Hadley  and  the  incorporation  of  Hatfield  as  an 
independent  town.  The  first  minister,  Rev.  Hope  Atherton, 
was  ordained  in  1670.  He  accompanied  the  Hatfield  men 
in  their  attack  on  the  Indians  at  the  falls  above  Deerfield,  in 
May,  1676.  Upon  the  retreat  he  was  unhorsed  and  sepa- 
rated from  his  companions.  He  wandered  in  the  woods 
for  some  days,  suffering  much  from  exposure,  but  finally 
reached  Hadley. 

He  died  the  following  year  as  a  result  of  his  sufferings 
and  exposure  on  this  occasion.  Rev.  William  Williams 
was  pastor  of  the  Hatfield  Church  from  1686  to  1741, 
fifty-five  years.  Rev.  Timothy  Woodbridge,  who  was  or- 
dained as  colleague  to  Mr.  Williams  in  1739,  served  the 
church  as  minister  forty-one  years.  Rev.  Joseph  Lyman, 
who  was  ordained  in  1772,  was  pastor  until  1828,  a  period 
of  fifty-six  years.  The  graves  of  these  eminent  divines  may 
be  seen  in  the  southwest  corner  of  the  Hill  Cemetery. 
They  and  Colonel  Israel  Williams  were  the  only  persons 
buried  in  the  cemetery  who  were  honored  with  headstones 
placed  in  a  horizontal  position.  The  headstones  are  in  a 
remarkably  good  state  of  preservation  at  the  present  time. 
The  three  ministers  of  the  Hatfield  Church,  whose  combined 
pastorates  extended  over  a  period  of  nearly  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years,  were  men  of  great  learning  and  large  influence. 

43 


As  theologians  and  preachers  they  were  the  peers  of  any  of 
the  New  England  divines  of  their  day.  Their  influence  on 
the  character  of  the  town  and  the  history  of  the  Hatfield 
Church  cannot  well  be  overestimated.  To  their  faithful 
work  must  be  attributed  much  of  the  breadth  of  views  and 
liberality  of  spirit  that  appeared  later  in  such  persons  as 
Oliver  Smith  and  Sophia  Smith.  The  next  minister  of 
special  note  in  the  history  of  the  Hatfield  Church  was  Rev. 
John  M.  Greene,  who  was  ordained  in  1857.  He  was  born 
in  Hadley,  Mass.,  March  12,  1830.  He  graduated  from 
Amherst  College  in  1853  and  was  for  two  years  tutor  in  that 
institution.  Mr.  Greene  was  a  man  of  fine  appearance  in 
the  pulpit,  tall  and  dignified.  His  sermons  were  scholarly, 
able  and  practical.  He  was  often  eloquent  in  the  years  of 
the  Civil  war,  the  progress  of  which  he  watched  with  the 
deepest  interest.  It  was  during  his  pastorate  that  Miss 
Sophia  Smith,  one  of  his  parishioners,  became  possessed 
of  the  large  fortune  through  the  death  of  her  brother,  Austin, 
that  she  left  for  the  founding  of  Smith  Academy  and  Smith 
College.  Mr.  Greene  became  Miss  Smith's  trusted  friend 
and  counsellor.  She  insisted  that  he  should  formulate  a 
plan  for  the  proper  disposal  of  her  wealth,  and,  acceding 
to  her  urgent  request,  he  became  the  originator  of  the  idea 
of  Smith  College.  He  also  influenced  Miss  Smith  to  found 
Smith  Academy  in  Hatfield.  During  Mr.  Greene's  pastorate 
many  young  people  entered  the  membership  of  the  Hat- 
field Church  and  became  workers  in  it.  He  left  Hatfield  in 
1868,  and  after  a  brief  pastorate  at  South  Hadley,  became 
pastor  of  the  Eliot  Church,  Lowell,  Mass.,  where  he  is 
still  pastor  emeritus.  Amherst  College  conferred  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Divinity  upon  him  in  1881.  He  has  been  a 
trustee  of  Mount  Holyoke  College  and  of  Smith  College. 

44 


REV.  ROBERT  M.  WOODS,  D.  U. 


Rev.  William  L.  Bray,  Rev.  John  P.  Skeele,  and  Rev. 
William  Greenwood,  all  excellent  ministers,  served  the  Hat- 
field Church  for  a  short  period  each,  between  the  departure 
of  Dr.  Greene  and  the  coming  of  the  present  pastor,  Rev. 
Robert  M.  Woods,  D.D. 

The  pastorate  of  Mr.  Woods  is  the  fourth  long  pastorate 
in  the  history  of  the  church.  Mr.  Woods  was  born  in 
Enfield,  Mass.,  January  24,  1849.  He  graduated  from 
Amherst  College  in  1869.  His  studies  in  theology  were 
pursued  at  Union,  Andover  and  Yale  Theological  Semi- 
naries. From  187 1  to  1873  he  was  instructor  in  English 
at  Amherst  College.  He  was  ordained  pastor  of  the  church  in 
Hatfield,  November  21,  1877.  October  29,  1879,  he  married 
Miss  Anna  Fairbanks,  daughter  of  Rev.  Samuel  D.  Fair- 
banks, D.D.,  for  over  fifty  years  a  missionary  of  the  American 
Board  in  India.  Mrs.  Woods'  mother  was  Mary  Ballantine, 
daughter  of  Dr.  Henry  Ballantine,  who  was  also  a  mission- 
ary in  India.  Nine  children  have  been  born  to  them, 
eight  of  whom  are  living.  Before  coming  to  Hatfield,  Mr. 
Wood  travelled  extensively  in  most  of  the  countries  of 
Europe  and  in  Palestine  and  Egypt.  He  also  spent  the 
winter  of  1896-97  in  India. 

Hatfield  was  surely  very  fortunate  in  securing  Mr. 
Woods  for  its  minister.  He  was  at  the  beginning  of  his 
career  as  a  clergyman.  He  had  received  a  liberal  education 
and  had  the  advantages  of  extensive  foreign  travel.  Miss 
Fairbanks,  who  became  his  wife,  was  a  graduate  of  Mount 
Holyoke  College,  class  of  1879.  Her  parents  were  persons  of 
rare  gifts  and  Christian  consecration.  She  was  in  everyway 
qualified  in  an  extraordinary  degree  for  her  life  work  as  the 
wife  of  a  Christian  minister.  For  more  than  thirty  years 
now  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Woods  have  devoted  themselves  with 
remarkable  fidelity  and  good  success  to  the  cause  of  Christ 

45 


in  Hatfield.  Both  have  been  filled  with  enthusiasm  for 
missionary  work  and  under  their  leadership  the  Hatfield 
Church  has  developed  a  fine  missionary  spirit  and  makes 
large  contributions  annually  to  missionary  objects. 

Both  have  entered  heartily  into  the  social  and  in- 
tellectual life  of  the  town  and  done  much  to  elevate  the  tone 
of  the  entire  community.  Mrs.  Woods  is  by  natural  en- 
dowment an  active  woman,  with  splendid  ability  for  leader- 
ship and  the  tact  that  gives  smoothness  to  all  that  she 
undertakes.  Mr.  Woods  has  been  from  the  beginning  of 
his  work  in  Hatfield  a  faithful  student  and  preacher  of 
Bible  truth,  a  wide  reader  of  general  literature,  and  has  kept 
in  close  touch  with  the  educational  life  of  the  Connecticut 
Valley.  He  is  a  trustee  of  Smith  College,  and  holds  an 
official  relation  to  Amherst  College,  which  recently  con- 
ferred upon  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity.  An  incident 
of  the  first  years  of  his  ministry  in  Hatfield  illustrates  the 
spirit  he  has  ever  shown  as  a  pastor  and  his  ability  in  that 
direction.  There  was  illness  in  a  poor  German  family 
in  the  west  part  of  the  town.  He  visited  the  family,  prayed 
with  them  in  the  German  language  and  presented  them  with 
a  barrel  of  flour.  The  author  of  this  book  has  not  forgotten 
the  appreciative  and  comforting  words  spoken  by  Mr. 
Woods  at  his  father's  funeral  many  years  ago.  Hundreds 
of  Mr.  Woods'  parishioners  have  likewise  been  helped  in 
times  of  trouble.  In  the  pulpit  his  ministry  has  been 
practical  and  inspiring.  There  is  always  evidence  of  care 
in  the  preparation  of  the  sermons.  The  fact  that  for  more 
than  thirty  years  he  has  ministered  acceptably  in  the  pulpit 
to  the  same  church  is  praise  enough  to  be  spoken  of  him 
as  a  preacher  of  the  everlasting  Gospel.  Mr.  Woods  has 
always  been  conservative  in  his  leadership  and  theology. 
At  the  same  time  he  has  kept  his  mind  open  and  read  the 

46 


leading  books  on  theology  and  kindred  subjects  as  they  have 
appeared.     This  will   readily  be   seen   by  anyone  who  will 
examine  his  library.     He  has   been   most  helpful  in  town 
affairs  and  being  a  man  of  large  means  and  paying  a  heavy 
tax  bill  to  the  town  annually,  his  influence  in  local  affairs 
has  naturally  been  great.       President  Roosevelt  would  cer- 
tainly have  a  good  word  to  speak  for  the  domestic  life  of  the 
Hatfield  pastor  and  his  wife.     The  maintaining  of  an  ideal 
home  life  and  the    rearing  of  a  large  family  of  attractive 
and    promising  children   are   not  the  least    of  the  services 
that  they  have  rendered  the  town  and  church.    Mr.  Woods 
has  had  the  rare   privilege   of  being   pastor  of  the  entire 
Protestant  population  of  the  town  and  in  spirit  and  breadth 
of  views    is    well  fitted  for   such  a  field  of  labor.     In  the 
character  of  the  services  which  he  has  rendered  the  commu- 
nity, in  the  length  of  his  pastorate,  in  his  attainments  as  a 
scholar,  and  in  his  wide  influence  in  the  valley,  Mr.  Woods 
easily  takes  rank  with  the  three  distinguished  men  who  served 
the  church  and  town  in  the  early  days,  and  to  whom  ref- 
erence has  already  been  made  in  this  sketch.     The  natural 
expectation  is  that  Mr.  and   Mrs.  Woods  will  spend  their 
remaming  days  of  active  work  in  the  ministry  among  the 
people  whom  they  have  served  so  long  and  well. 

The  Hatfield  Church  at  the  present  time  has  a  resident 
membership  of  about  two  hundred  and  forty,  and  is  in  a 
most  prosperous  condition.  The  influence  for  good 
exerted  by  the  church  in  the  course  of  its  history  is  in- 
calculable. It  has  contributed  immeasurably  to  the  welfare 
of  the  people  and  has  taken  an  active  part  in  the  winning 
of  the  nation  for  Christ  and  the  extension  of  the  Gospel 
in  pagan  lands. 

The  first  meeting-house  in  Hatfield  was  built  in  1668 
and  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  road  at  a  point  a  little  below 

+7 


the  present  house  of  worship.  It  was  repaired  twenty  years 
later.  It  was  thirty  feet  square  and  was  without  glass  in 
the  windows  and  had  no  means  for  heating.  In  1699  the 
first  house  having  become  too  small,  a  second  house  of 
worship  was  built  on  or  near  the  site  of  the  first  building. 
It  faced  east  and  west  and  had  galleries,  a  turret  and  bell. 
The  turret  was  built  for  a  watch  tower.  The  bell  was  used 
for  giving  alarm  in  case  of  attack  by  the  Indians.  There  was 
no  way  of  heating  this  house.  The  third  meeting-house 
was  built  about  1750.  It  stood  a  little  south  of  the  former 
house  and  faced  north  and  south.  Behind  it  stood  the 
brick  schoolhouse  elsewhere  referred  to  in  this  book.  It 
was  fifty-six  feet  long  and  forty-five  feet  wide.  It  had 
a  belfry  and  a  tower  with  Gothic  points.  Stoves  were 
placed  in  the  vestibule  and  pipes  were  extended  through  the 
auditorium.  This  arrangement  was  a  compromise  as  there 
was  opposition  to  having  stoves  in  the  house  of  worship. 
The  building  was  sold  to  the  late  Elijah  Bardwell,  who  moved 
it  across  the  street  where  it  is  still  standing.  It  is  the  red 
building  in  the  rear  of  Mr.  F.  H.  Bardwell's  residence  and 
is  used  as  a  barn.  The  present  owner  says  that  there  are 
some  red  oak  timbers  in  the  building  that  belonged  to  the 
meeting-house  built  in  1699. 

In  this  meeting-house  the  representatives  of  fifty  towns 
met  in  the  August  Convention  that  preceded  the  Shays' 
Rebellion  and  drew  up  their  formidable  list  of  twenty-five 
"grievances." 

The  present  house  of  worship  was  erected  in  1849. 
Extensive  changes  were  made  in  1867,  when  the  vestry 
was  added  and  an  organ  loft  built.  The  parlors  in  the  rear 
were  built  in  1891.  In  1892  extensive  alterations  were  made 
in  the  interior  of  the  church.  The  clock  was  placed  in  the 
belfry  in  1898.     The  bell  is  the  third  one  used.     The  first 

48 


MRS.  R.  M.  WOODS 


one  weighed  about  nine  hundred  pounds  and  was  used 
from  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  until  the  last 
quarter  of  the  nineteenth.  In  1876  it  was  cracked  by  being 
rung  violently  in  celebration  of  the  advent  of  July  Fourth 
of  that  year.  It  was  recast  and  enlarged,  but  was  cracked 
again  July  Fourth  of  the  next  year.  It  was  again  recast. 
It  weighs  eighteen  hundred  pounds.  There  is  no  sweeter 
sound  to  the  church-going  people  of  Hatfield  than  the  music 
of  this  bell. 

The  writer  attended  divine  worship  in  the  Hatfield 
church,  Sunday,  August  2,  1908,  and  heard  a  sermon  from 
Rev.  John  W.  Lane,  of  North  Hadley,  who  stated  that  the 
occasion  was  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  first  sermon 
preached  in  the  Hatfield  church.  He  was  then  assisting 
in  drilling  the  Amherst  College  students  in  elocution  and 
was  invited  by  Rev.  John  M.  Greene,  then  pastor  of  the 
Hatfield  church,  to  preach  for  him.  The  speaker  ex- 
hibited to  the  congregation  the  notes  of  his  sermon  preached 
fifty  years  before.  He  stated  that  the  officers  of  the 
American  Board  informed  him  that  the  Hatfield  church 
made  the  first  donation  ever  received  by  the  American 
Board,  the  pastor,  Rev.  Joseph  Lyman,  having  solicited  the 
money  from  a  woman  in  Hadley  by  the  name  of  Smith. 


49 


MEMORIAL    lABLET 


Indian  Attacks  on  Hatfield 

THE    story   of  the  conflicts   between  the  early  settlers 
of  the  Connecticut  Valley  and  the  natives  of  the  region 
is  not  pleasant  reading.    In  the  beginning  it  was  the 
purpose  of  the  settlers  to  live  peaceably  with  the  Indians. 
Most  of  the  whites  meant  to  be  discreet  and  just  in  dealing 
with    the    natives,    whose    rights    they  acknowledged.      In 
buying  land  of  the  Indians  the  settlers  paid  what  was  re- 
garded by  both  parties  as  a  fair  compensation.     Even  good 
corn  land  in  that  day,  situated  as  it  was  in  the  midst  of  a 
vast  wilderness  and  often  cultivated  under  most  hazardous 
conditions,  was  not  worth  a  great  price.     Many  a  sturdy 
settler  paid  with  his  life  for  his  attempt  to  cultivate  his  crop 
of  corn.     The   savage   often    lurked  in  the   nearby  forest 
watching  his  opportunity  to  fall  stealthily  upon  his  victim. 
Many  of  the  Indians  were  friendly  in  their  relations  with 
the  settlers,  but  not  a  few  were  disposed  to  kill  and  plunder. 
Some  of  the  settlers  were  cruel  and  unjust  in  their  treat- 
ment of  the  natives.    The  wars  between  England  and  France 
disturbed   the  relations  existing  between   the   French   and 
English  in  America.     The  conflict  was  often  extended  to 
American  soil.    The  Indians  were  drawn  into  the  struggle. 
They   were  often  at  war  among  themselves  and  the  settlers 
were    inevitably    involved    in    trouble    from    this    source. 
About  the  Thames  River  in  Connecticut  dwelt  the  Pequots, 
who  held  the  lower  part  of  the  Connecticut  River  country 
by  conquest.     They  were  disposed  to  hostility  and  jealous 
of  the  settlement  of  the  whites  in  their  territory.    The  waves 
from   King  Philip's    war  swept  over  into  the  Valley  and 

51 


affected  the  security  of  the  frontier  settlements.  A  band 
of  savage  warriors  might  at  any  time  swoop  down  upon  an 
unprotected  settlement,  kill  or  capture  the  people,  and 
carry  away  their  property  as  plunder. 

Not  many  years  had  passed  after  the  Valley  was 
settled  by  Englishmen  before  it  was  evident  that  either  the 
English  must  retire  from  the  region  or  the  Indians  be  ex- 
terminated or  driven  out  of  the  country.  The  outcome  was 
a  determined  effort  by  the  Indians  to  drive  the  English 
from  the  country  and  an  equally  determined  effort  on  the 
part  of  the  settlers  to  exterminate  the  Indians.  There  was 
great  cruelty  practiced  on  both  sides.  Men  whose  wives 
had  been  tomahawked  or  carried  into  captivity  by  the 
savages,  whose  helpless  infants  had  been  taken  from  their 
mothers'  arms  and  murdered  in  sight  of  their  pleading  and 
frantic  mothers,  whose  neighbors  had  been  shot  down  without 
warning  by  the  treacherous  savages,  were  human  and  quite 
likely  to  retaliate  when  opportunity  was  given.  In  assaults 
by  the  English  upon  Indian  encampments  it  frequently 
happened  that  old  men,  women  and  children  were  slaugh- 
tered with  the  braves.  Captive  women  and  children  were 
sold  by  their  English  captors  into  slavery.  King  Philip's 
only  son,  the  last  of  the  Massasoit  race,  was  sold  as  a  slave 
in  Bermuda. 

The  struggle  between  the  English  and  the  Indians 
for  final  possession  of  the  country  could  have  but  one  out- 
come. The  superior  resources  and  knowledge  of  the  Eng- 
lish, their  better  organization  and  more  concerted  action, 
were  sure  to  result  in  the  extermination  of  the  Indians. 
That  is  what  happened.  The  struggle  began  soon  after 
the  English  entered  the  Valley.  In  less  than  a  hundred 
years  after  the  conflict  began  not  a  hostile  Indian  was  left 
in  the  whole  country  east  of  the  Hudson  River  and  south 

52 


of  Canada.  Thousands  had  been  killed  in  war.  Tribes 
had  been  broken  up  into  roving  bands  whose  surviving 
members  had  passed  beyond  the  ken  of  the  white  man  and 
been  absorbed  in  tribes  dwelling  further  west  or  north. 
With  the  close  of  the  last  French  war  in  the  Valley  in 
1759  the  Indian  menace  ceased. 

It  was  inevitable  that  Hatfield  should  suffer  with  the 
rest  of  the  Valley  settlements  from  the  Indian  wars.  It 
has  a  story  of  Indian  raids,  of  men  and  women  slain  or 
captured  by  the  savages,  of  heroic  defense  against  the  assaults 
of  the  enemy,  and  of  men  who  earned  the  title  of  heroes 
by  their  brave  deeds  in  saving  their  settlement  and  their 
loved  ones  from  destruction  at  the  hands  of  the  cruel  foe, 
that  is  as  thrilling  as  any  narrative  of  Indian  troubles  that 
has  ever  been  told,  with  the  possible  exception  of  the  story 
of  the  sack  of  Deerfield. 

Some  of  the  Hatfield  men  were  engaged  in  the  "Swamp 
Fight"  that  took  place  in  Hopewell  Swamp,  now  in  Whately. 
Azariah,  son  of  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  and  Richard  Fellows 
were  among  the  slain.  This  was  the  first  of  the  three  fights 
which  occurred  in  Hatfield  during  King  Philip's  war. 

In  the  autumn  of  1675,  soon  after  the  massacre  of 
Captain  Lothrop's  company  at  Bloody  Brook,  an  attempt 
was  made  by  the  Indians  to  destroy  the  settlement  at  Hat- 
field. The  plan  was  divulged  to  Captain  Moseley  by  a 
captured  squaw.  Troops  were  accordingly  stationed  at 
each  end  of  the  town  and  in  the  middle.  Major  Appleton, 
Captain  Moseley,  and  Captain  Poole  were  in  command. 
On  October  19,  (O.  S.)  at  noon  a  fire  being  observed  in  the 
woods  about  Sugarloaf  Mountain,  some  of  Moseley 's  scouts 
went  in  that  direction  and,  being  drawn  into  a  trap  about 
two  miles  from  the  town,  all  but  one  of  the  company,  an 
Indian,  were  either  killed  or  taken   captive.      About  four 

53 


in  the  afternoon  the  enemy  made  an  assauh  upon  the  town 
from  all  quarters,  but  to  the  surprise  of  the  Indians,  the  place 
was  filled  with  soldiers  who  successfully  resisted  every 
attempt  to  break  into  the  town.  Upon  the  appearance  of 
reinforcements  from  Northampton,  the  Indians  withdrew, 
carrying  off  three  of  the  English  as  prisoners,  one  of  whom 
was  afterward  tortured  in  a  horrible  manner  and  put  to 
death.  The  loss  of  the  enemy  in  the  assault  on  Hatfield 
was  considerable,  while  that    of  the  English  was  slight. 

In  the  spring  of  1676  a  large  number  of  warriors 
assembled  at  Sqaukheag.  It  was  their  intention  to  fall 
upon  the  Valley  towns  in  large  bands  and  clear  the  region 
of  the  English.  The  young,  powerfully  built  and  proud 
chief,  Canonchet,  and  more  than  a  thousand  of  his  Narra- 
gansett  braves  were  among  those  who  made  their  rendevous 
at  the  Sqaukheag  camps.  Learning  of  the  plans  of  the 
Indians  and  the  swarms  collected  at  Sqaukheag,  the  Eng- 
lish promptly  gathered  a  considerable  force,  made  a  sudden 
and  unexpected  assault  on  the  camps  at  Sqaukheag  and  put 
the  surprised  Indians  to  flight.  The  Indians  hastened 
down  to  Hatfield  and  made  an  attack  on  the  town,  but  were 
quickly  repulsed  by  Captain  Moseley.  In  the  month  of 
May  of  the  same  year  a  raiding  band  from  the  Indian  camp 
at  the  Great  Falls,  now  Turner's  Falls,  captured  and  drove 
off  seventy  or  eighty  head  of  cattle  that  were  feeding  in 
the  Hatfield  meadows.  In  revenge  for  this  "and  other 
preceding  mischiefs"  a  force  was  collected  from  Hatfield 
and  neighboring  towns  as  a  volunteer  company  to  join  the 
regular  troops  in  an  attack  on  the  camp  at  the  Great  Falls. 
The  combined  forces  numbered  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  men.  The  Rev.  Hope  Atherton  of  Hatfield  joined 
as  chaplain.  The  party  assembled  on  Hatfield  street  at 
sunset,  May  18,  1676,  and  made  preparation  for  the  march 

54 


to  the  Falls.  Prayer  was  offered  by  the  chaplain  and  with 
the  Indian  scout,  Benjamin  Waite,  as  one  of  the  guides, 
the  little  band  set  out.  They  traversed  the  path  that  led  by 
the  scene  of  the  Bloody  Brook  massacre  and  a  little  before 
daybreak  arrived  in  the  rear  of  the  Indian  camp  at  the 
Falls.  At  a  given  signal  the  assault  was  made  upon  the 
sleeping  camp  and  the  rout  of  the  Indians  was  complete. 
Supposing  their  old  foes,  the  Mohawks,  were  upon  them, 
they  fled  from  the  camp  in  confusion.  Many  were  killed, 
some  jumped  into  the  river  and  were  swept  over  the  falls 
and  drowned,  the  rest  disappeared  in  the  forest.  The  camp 
was  destroyed,  many  women  and  children  perishing  with 
the  rest.  In  the  retreat  the  English  were  set  upon  by  the 
fugitives  and  hardly  used.  It  was  during  this  retreat  that 
the  Rev.  Hope  Atherton  met  with  his  remarkable  ex- 
perience. He  was  unhorsed  and  separated  from  his  compan- 
ions. He  wandered  about  the  woods  in  a  bewildered  and 
weakened  state  for  some  days.  Several  times  he  approached 
Indians  that  he  discovered  in  the  forest  and  endeavored 
to  surrender  to  them,  but  frightened  by  his  clerical  garb 
and  taking  him  for  the  white  man's  God,  they  turned  and  fled. 
Mr.  Atherton  finally  reached  Hatfield  in  a  state  of  great 
exhaustion.  He  made  his  experience  the  occasion  for  a 
lengthy  paper  illustrating  the  great  goodness  of  God  in  eflPect- 
ing  his  deliverance  from  death  at  the  hand  of  the  enemy  and 
from  exposure  in  the  wilderness.  He  did  not  entirely  recover 
from  the  eff'ects  of  his  terrible  experience  and  not  long  after- 
ward died. 

May  30  the  enemy,  seeking  revenge  for  the  punish- 
ment inflicted  upon  them  at  the  Falls,  reappeared  at  Hat- 
field. They  had  gathered  a  force  of  several  hundred 
warriors  and  now  made  a  furious  assault  upon  the  town. 
The  townspeople  were  driven   within  the  stockade,  build- 


55 


ings  outside  of  the  stockade  were  pillaged  and  burnt,  and 
cattle  were  driven  off.  At  this  juncture,  "the  twenty-five 
resolute  young  men  "  from  Hadley,  who  had  hurriedly  crossed 
the  river,  made  their  appearance  in  the  meadow.  They 
fought  their  way  up  to  the  point  where  the  main  attack  was 
being  made,  losing  five  of  their  number.  The  Hatfield 
men  sallied  forth  and  the  combined  forces  after  a  hot  fight 
put  the  enemy  to  flight. 

In  an  historical  address  delivered  at  Hatfield,  Septem- 
ber 19,  1889,  Mr.  Silas  G.  Hubbard,  referring  to  this  attack 
says,  "The  enemy  burned  twelve  houses  and  barns  outside 
the  fortifications,  killed  many  cattle,  and  drove  away  nearly 
all  the  sheep." 

August  12,  1676,  King  Philip  was  killed  and  peace  was 
made  with  all  the  New  England  tribes.  The  Indians 
of  the  Valley  fled  to  Canada  and  a  year  of  quiet  followed. 
In  the  spring  of  the  following  year  fears  from  attacks  by 
the  Indians  had  subsided  and  the  settlers  proceeded  to  resume 
their  usual  occupations.  But  Hatfield  was  to  hear  the  terri- 
ble sound  of  the  warwhoop  once  more.  In  order  to  secure 
their  own  ends,  the  French  kept  alive  in  their  savage  allies 
the  spirit  of  hostility  to  the  English  and  a  year  after  the  close 
of  King  Philip's  war  a  band  of  hostile  Indians  suddenly 
made  their  appearance  at  Hatfield  bent  on  slaughter  and 
pillage.  The  attack  was  made  on  the  town  the  famous  19th 
of  September,  1677.  When  the  attack  was  made  about 
eleven  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  the  greater  part  of  the  men 
were  employed  in  the  meadows.  It  was  not  supposed  that 
any  Indians  were  then  in  the  Valley  and  the  town  was 
wholly  unprepared  for  the  emergency. 

In  an  address  of  welcome  delivered  at  the  2 1 2th 
anniversary  of  the  attack,  Mr.  Thaddeus  Graves  gave  the 
following  description  of  the  assault:    "All  was  peace  and 

56 


security,  no  thought  of  danger  disturbed  even  the  most 
timid.  A  picture  of  more  secure  and  tranquil  enjoyment 
can  hardly  be  imagined,  when  suddenly  all  is  changed  and 
the  security  and  happiness  that  has  prevailed  in  this  little 
village  is  rudely  broken  by  the  fierce  warwhoop  of  the  savage 
as  fifty  armed  and  painted  w^arriors  who  had  crawled  noise- 
lessly down  through  Pudding  Lane  and  finding  nothing  to 
oppose  their  progress  burst  suddenly  through  the  gate 
separating  the  lane  from  the  main  street.  They  entered  the 
northern  part  of  the  town  not  then  enclosed  within  the 
protection  of  the  palisade  that  did  not  extend  quite  as  far 
north  as  the  present  residence  of  Silas  G.  Hubbard.  In 
a  moment  all  was  terror  and  the  wildest  confusion." 

Seeing  the  clouds  of  smoke  that  rose  from  the  burning 
buildings  of  the  village  the  men  in  the  meadows  hastened 
to  their  homes,  where  a  scene  of  death  and  desolation  con- 
fronted them.  They  beheld  the  smoking  ruins  of  three  houses 
and  four  well-filled  barns.  Thirteen  homes  had  been  in- 
vaded. The  bodies  of  twelve  of  the  inmates  were  found 
mutilated  and  stiffened  in  death.  Seventeen  persons  had 
been  carried  away  as  captives.  Sergt.  Isaac  Graves,  one 
of  the  selectmen,  and  his  brother,  John  Graves,  a  leading 
citizen,  were  among  the  slain.  The  wife  and  three  young 
daughters  of  Benjamin  Waite,  and  Hannah,  the  wife  of 
Stephen  Jennings,  and  her  two  children  by  a  former  husband, 
were  among  the  captives. 

The  full  account  of  the  heroic  efforts  made  by  Benjamin 
Waite  and  Stephen  Jennings  to  find  the  captives  and  effect 
their  redemption  cannot  be  given  here.  It  was  a  brave 
undertaking.  But  what  were  dangers  and  hardships  to 
men  whose  wives  and  children  were  languishing  in  captivity 
among  the  Indians  in  Canada!  Months  were  passed  in  the 
weary  search,  which  was  at  last  rewarded  by  the  discovery  of 

57 


the  whereabouts  of  the  captives  and  their  redemption  with 
the  assistance  of  the  authorities  at  Boston  and  Count  de 
Frontenac,  Governor  of  Canada. 

On  the  22d  of  May,  1678,  the  rescuing  party  with  the 
redeemed  captives,  arrived  at  Albany.  The  contents  of 
Benjamin  Waite's  memorable  letter,  written  on  the  follow- 
ing day  to  his  "loving  friends  in  Hatfield,"  are  inscribed 
on  the  tablet  recently  placed  in  Memorial  Hall  by  the 
citizens  of  Hatfield,  as  a  memorial  to  the  heroes,  Benjamin 
Waite  and  Stephen  Jennings.  The  captives  were  ransomed 
from  the  Indians  by  the  payment  of  200  pounds  raised 
among  the  English.  A  little  daughter  of  Mrs.  Foote  had 
been  put  to  death  by  the  savages.  Mrs.  Waite  and  Mrs. 
Jennings  had  each  given  birth  to  a  daughter  while  in  cap- 
tivity. The  children  were  named  respectively  "Canada" 
Waite  and  "Captivity"  Jennings.  A  poem  commemorative 
of  the  redemption  of  the  captives  and  their  return  from 
Canada,  by  Miss  Margaret  Miller,  of  Hatfield,  closes  with 
these  lines: 

"  Sturdy  women,  tender  children,  brave  as  made  of  Spartan 
clay. 

Let  honor  wait  on  all  who  toiled  that  fearful,  frozen  way. 

From  lip  to  lip  the  story  ran;  the  fame  spread  thro'  the  land 

Of  him  who    fought  a  winter   long,    steel-true  in   heart  and 
hand. 

Courageous,  strong  and  resolute  to  meet   his  unknown  fate. 

And  came  a  conqueror  home  at  last,  our  hero, 

BENJAMIN    WAITE." 

September  19,  1889,  the  Pocumtuck  Valley  Association 
held  a  field-day  in  Hatfield  on  which  occasion  was  celebrated 
the  2 1 2th  anniversary  of  the  Indian  attack  of  September 
19,  1677.  The  addresses  given  by  Thaddeus  Graves  and 
Silas  G.  Hubbard,  of  Hatfield,  and  Honorable  George 
Sheldon,  of  Deerfield,  on  that  occasion  were  subsequently 

58 


published  in  pamphlet  form  and  contain  a  full  account 
of  the  last  attempt  of  the  Indians  to  molest  the  settlers  of 
Hatfield.  An  Indian  who  should  appear  on  the  Hatfield 
street  today  would  be  an  object  of  much  curiosity  to  the 
citizens. 

It  is  sad  to  relate  that  the  hero  Benjamin  Waite  was 
killed  by  an  Indian  bullet.  Although  nearly  sixty  years  old, 
when  the  news  of  the  sack  of  Deerfield,  February  29,  1704, 
reached  Hatfield,  he  was  the  first  to  start  for  the  scene  of 
slaughter  and  ruin.  He  joined  in  the  pursuit  of  the  Indians 
across  the  Deerfield  meadow  and  was  killed  by  a  bullet, 
falling  with  his  face  to  the  enemy.  Let  all  who  read  his 
name  on  the  tablet  in  Memorial  Hall  do  honor  to  his  memory. 
No  braver  or  more  resolute  pioneer  ever  lived  on  this 
continent  than  Benjamin  Waite  of  Hatfield. 


59 


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